


Our Own Small Wonders

by Moadlc



Series: Moadlc Writes Supernatural [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Based in Puerto Rico, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Case Fic, Childhood Trauma, Dean/Cas Big Bang 2019 (Supernatural), Explicit Sexual Content, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Kidnapping, M/M, Slow Burn, Vacation, Winchester Family (Supernatural) Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-14 12:51:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21016073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moadlc/pseuds/Moadlc
Summary: "This rain forest was nominated to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World!" Cas beams, his eyes scanning the canopy above them. "Even though it didn't win, I believe it still holds its own small wonders." The angel adds as he caresses the leaves hanging closest to him. Dean stares at his friend and smiles quietly to himself, content for the first time in years. "We have our own wonders too."The Winchesters had never been on vacation. They had never experienced the sand between their toes, or the sweet scent of sea-salt breeze on their skin. This year would be different. It had to be. Soon after mourning the loss of their mother, they decide to jump ship and head to Puerto Rico. Chuck knows they deserve the break. It is a shame that wherever they go, trouble seems to always follow. Will a restless, local spirit ruin their vacation, or will it bring them even closer than before?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing for the Dean Cas Big Bang 2019! I really wanted to bring the boys home with me, so I did! Feel free to leave comments and kudos! They feed my starving writer soul :)
> 
> Thank you to everyone on my wonderful team that made this fic possible: 
> 
> Artist:  
Psynatural ([Tumblr](https://psynatural.tumblr.com/) and [AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psynatural/pseuds/Psynatural)) 
> 
> Beta Readers:  
Hellfire37 ([Tumblr](https://hellfire37.tumblr.com/))  
Destiel-more-like-bestiel ([Tumblr](https://destiel-more-like-bestiel.tumblr.com/))
> 
> Check out our masterposts!  
[Art Masterpost](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21150317)  
[Fic Masterpost](url)

The sky was tinged a light blue, with the sun shining softly over its tropical domain. Out the window, the trees swayed in the warm breeze as he passed them by. The thrum of the engine beating at once with his heartbeat. Both his mechanical and physical selves becoming one. All the while, he is tapping the steering wheel in a cruel mockery of rhythm. The song is not important now, only the feeling it evokes. There’s a breeze that softly tickles at each of his senses. He can feel the sand rasping delicately across his fingers as he places his hand out the car window. He can smell the sea salt coming from the coast. The water is so close to the road that he can almost taste it. 

_This is heaven,_ he thinks. Never has he seen such beauty condensed into one place. One location filled to the brim with new sounds and familiar tastes. Well, at least this is what he wishes his heaven could be. Not one filled with dick angels that couldn’t care less about Earth. He shakes his head. He promised he wouldn't think of work. For all of their sakes. Chuck knows they need the break.

He has been down this road before. The potholes and small fishing shacks seem familiar as they roll into view. He’s found himself driving down by the coast every morning, drawn by the sheer energy he found there. There was something liberating about being able to feel the thrum of the engine on his fingertips while listening to waves crash below. It was addicting. It was time to go home though. He didn’t want Sammy to kill him for taking too long getting breakfast. With one look in the rear-view mirror, he turned on his blinker and made a U-turn back into town. He sped down the road and glanced at the green road sign as it flew by. “_**Dorado**, 15 km_” With a smile, he stepped on the gas and felt the wind rustle his hair. This vacation was going to be great. 


	2. Settling In

Dean turns the keys in the ignition of his rental car and parks it. He takes a moment to check his phone: 7:15 am and still nothing. If he can get their damn breakfast before Sammy gets back from his run he should be in the clear. Grabbing his wallet, he steps out of the car and flinches at the loud sound the alarm makes. This is why he hates new cars, he would take his Baby over this pile of- 

His keys skitter across the parking lot towards the entrance as a young boy runs past him, pushing him in the process. 

“Yo buddy, watch where you’re going!” He hollers at the young man that shouldered past him, in a hurry for no apparent reason. Fucking teenagers, man. He bends over to pick up his keys, muttering under his breath. Sometimes he wishes teenagers were more like Jack, sweet and not fucking running everywhere. Then again, Jack flies a lot, so. Yeah, maybe it's best that teenagers don't have power-ups. 

“_Hola! ¿Como le ayudo?_” 

His train of thought is interrupted by the lively old lady behind the counter. She is wearing round black-rimmed glasses and has soft chestnut hair that is lightly plastered to her head due to sweat. He read some great reviews online about this bakery. Looking around, he can sense there’s a home-like vibe to the place. There are pictures of beaches and smiling children plastered all over the walls. There are different sized pictures in all kinds of colored frames, some with other loose photographs haphazardly placed on top of them. The bakery has dark wooden floors and paneling, giving the entire place a warm and cozy feel. Some pictures right next to the register even have the lady behind the counter in them, and Dean figures this bakery must be family-run. He smiles, the troubles of the parking lot forgotten in favor of charming this sweet, old woman in front of him. 

“_Hola_, I’m kinda new ‘round here.” He gestured at the beginning of a sunburn forming on the bridge of his nose from falling asleep on the beach the day before. 

“What do you recommend I try first?” Dean smiled gently at her, before looking down to the glass cabinet in front of him. There’s a large amount of mouth-watering pastries just piled up one over the other. Some look like skinny turnovers, others like funnel cakes made out of sweet bread. 

“Ah, _si_, yes. Well, you need to try one of my _quesitos_, it’s a real favorite around here.” The kind woman wagged her finger at Dean like she was telling him off. She bent down to reach for the turnover-like pastries he had been staring at and put a couple in a white cardboard box. She looked up at him expectantly. 

Her slightly raised eyebrow reminded him of Missouri. God, he missed her like crazy. He was past due for a visit. Perhaps they’d visit her for their next vacation. He scoffed at that thought. Their first vacation ain't over yet, and here he is planning another. 

“So, um do you have large coffees?” He tried using his hands to mime a huge cup. He really needed the caffeine boost. 

She smiled at him and nodded as she went towards the back where a huge metal pot sat. 

“How many?” she said while holding up a large white styrofoam cup. 

“Um, _cuatro_!” He tried to remember the little Spanish he knew from his high school days but held up four fingers just to be sure he got it right. 

_“Ah, así que habla español! Que bien.”_ She smiled, and Dean nodded along praying she hadn’t asked a question. She started pouring the coffee into the cups in front of her and screamed without missing a beat: “Julio!”

From the front of the store, a young man stopped cleaning the tables and ran towards the counter. He stared at Dean for a couple seconds before facing her. “_Tráeme más leche por favor, el gringo aquí quiere cuatro cafés grandes._” 

The boy nodded at her, and made his way to what Dean presumed was the kitchen, disappearing completely from his view. 

With that, she turned her head back to Dean with a smile. “Will you need anything else?” 

Dean looked nervously towards where the young guy had disappeared. He was a little on edge after hearing her scream, but when nothing exploded, he decided to ignore that part of his brain. He shook his head, and she went back to preparing the cups of coffee. 

“What brings you to Puerto Rico? A honeymoon?” she asked with a wink as she wiped her hands on her apron, before coming to ring him up on the register. 

Dean’s cheeks reddened. “Family vacation actually,” he muttered while rubbing his hand across the back of his neck. 

“Oh? Why the ring on your finger then? Hard to believe someone as _guapo_ as you is single.” She grinned as she gestured at the total on the register’s screen. 

Dean handed over the money and looked down at the silver band on his left hand. His eyes softened. “It was a gift from my mom.” 

That was a half-truth at best. It had been a gift from his mom years ago. But when she died, when Jack… Dean couldn’t bring himself to keep it. He had to bury some part of her. Not just the empty shell the spell had left behind. However, when he got back from the hunter’s burial he found the ring on his bed with a folded note. 

_“She would have wanted you to keep it, Dean. Honor her memory; don’t bury it.”_

He didn’t need to see the signature on the card to know it was Cas. He cried that night, but hadn’t taken it off since. 

The lady’s smile dimmed slightly when she caught a glimpse of his expression. She held his hand before giving him his change. “I can tell she meant a lot to you. It’s good to see a man care for his _mami_. God knows we need more of those.” 

She handed him the white box with the four coffees balanced on top of it. “You know what? Wait here.” She took a napkin from next to the register and reached for one of the top pastries in the glass case. It looked like a swirled puff filled with cream and covered with chocolate and powdered sugar.

“Here you go.” She placed it between the coffee cups with a warm smile. “No one can stay sad with one of Mirna’s famous _tornillos_. On the house” 

Dean’s eyes widened. “Oh ma’am, I can’t possibly take-” 

She waved her hand dismissively and shushed him as she gave him a warm smile that left small crinkles next to her eyes. “Don’t you worry, just make sure to stop by again before your little vacation ends.” And with that, she stepped back and started gesturing for the next customer to come over. “Now go, you don’t want to be the reason Don Jose here doesn’t get his morning _cafecito_.” 

“_Gracias_, Miss…?” he trailed off. 

“Call me Mirna, dear,” she quipped as she turned back to work, more coffee orders coming in. 

“_Gracias,_ Mirna.” With that, he turned towards the exit with a smile. Today would be a good day. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dean rolled into the hotel’s parking lot with the radio blasting some local rock station. He slowly positioned the car into the parking space and sat there for a second after the engine sputtered off. The entire car had filled up with the tantalizing, sweet smell of Mirna’s _quesitos_. It kind of reminded him of the smell of the pies his mother used to heat up for him. His stomach growled, demanding his attention. He got out of the car and made his way out to his room. As he rummaged through his pocket to get his room key out, the door opened in front of him. He was greeted by blue eyes, and frazzled, dark hair on a familiar trench coat-clad frame. 

“Good morning Dean,” Cas said with a small smile as he stepped aside to let Dean come into their shared hotel room. 

“Morning, sunshine.” Dean chuckled. There was something funny about having an angel welcome him home like an _I Love Lucy_ character. A small part of him expected Cas to be gone by now. He chose to ignore that side.

“How was your ride?” Cas asked as he relieved Dean of the pastry box and coffee and moved towards the small table in the back of the room. Dean’s eyes wandered slightly towards the tidy beds, the fresh clothes set out on the bed for him, and grinned. Cas was a lot like Lucy sometimes. 

“It was freaking incredible, actually.” Dean smiled to himself as he leaned against the table with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Cas turned to look at him, personal space apparently forgotten. “I went down by the beach again. There’s nothing like smelling the ocean first thing in the morning.” Dean’s eyes made their way up from Cas’s lips to his ocean blue eyes. They stayed there for what seemed like years. 

“That sounds lovely, Dean. I am glad to see you are enjoying yourself. You look oddly charming with a sunburn” Cas caught himself before he could let out any other compliments and put some much needed distance between them. He sat by the bed and fiddled with his trenchcoat. There was a strange look on his face. A look that Dean couldn’t quite place. He was hiding something. It seemed like they were all hiding things from each other these days. 

Just as Dean was about to ask him about it, there was a knock at the door. Cas got up to answer it, and let Sam and Jack walk inside with a small nod. Sam had a warm, post-workout glow, and Jack was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Dean smiled and waved at both of them. Sam nodded at both of them and made his way to the table, following the delicious smell. 

“Hi, Dean” Jack managed to say through a yawn, as he stretched his arms over his head. His face broke into a soft, dopey smile once he laid eyes on the coffee sitting on the table. He made his way over as well and grabbed a cup of coffee with both hands. He relished the warmth on his fingertips and took a deep breath. In spite of his sweet tooth, he loved coffee. Dean smiled at the kid and reached out to ruffle his blonde hair while a small warmth bloomed in his chest.

“Morning kid. Make sure you grab some of these uh _quesitos_.” Dean adds around air quotes, unsure if he was saying the word correctly. “I have it on good authority that they are really good.” Dean gestured to the white box that Jack was eyeing curiously. 

Sam looked between them with a pained smile. He hadn’t seen Dean act this chipper in a couple months. Not since… Well, one glance at Cas let him know that he wasn’t the only one that could see the change in Dean. 

Dean got to work by serving up the rest of the breakfast, handing out each remaining coffee and pastry. Sam and his long limbs curled up by one of the beds with his food and the TV. Dean can hear him muttering with Cas about some show he had streamed last night on his laptop.

“So, what's the plan for today?” Dean swallowed around a mouthful of his breakfast. He looked around for somewhere to sit but settled for gesturing to Cas to move over so he can sit next to him.

“We can go to a museum,” Sam suggested without taking his eyes off the TV. “These are really good by the way. Thanks” He raised the half-eaten _quesito_ in his hand to make his point. 

Dean scoffed. “A museum? No way, Sammy. Vacations aren’t for learning.” He takes a swig of his coffee, taking a moment to savor the bitterness. He was pleasantly surprised by the richness of the coffee and decides it's probably the best he has ever had. 

After another swig, Dean turns to Jack and looks at him expectantly. The kid smiles and takes a moment to think. His hazel eyes brighten after a moment’s consideration. “I know! I saw a commercial for a place where we can fly kites. We could go there?” 

“Kites? Well, I am sure that is right up your father’s alley. Ain't it Cas?” Dean gives the angel a cheeky grin. Cas’s brow furrows for a second, but then his eyes widen slightly in recognition. 

“Yes…” Cas adds hesitantly. “I did enjoy kite flying in my favorite Heaven. I can’t believe you remember that Dean.” Cas adds breathlessly and smiles softly at the hunter. Dean can’t meet his eyes, a warm blush spreading through his face. 

“Yeah well, uh no biggie.” Dean stands quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. He seems to need some distance between himself and Cas suddenly. Sam rolls his eyes and chuckles. 

“What are you talking about Cas?” Jack says tilting his head slightly as he inches slightly closer to his father. 

Cas stood and made his way to the window. The sky was a beautiful, yet clouded blue outside. The view from their room was limited, but it did have one feature that the angel liked. A huge _flamboyan_ tree that was in full bloom. Its bright red flowers seemed like something taken straight from Heaven. 

“Back when I lived in Heaven, there was one human’s heaven I particularly enjoyed visiting. An autistic man and his perfect Tuesday afternoon. He would fly kites and enjoy the summer breeze. I enjoyed watching him at peace.” 

Cas looked down at his feet as if he was searching for something he had dropped. Then he raised his head and his eyes met Dean’s. The hunter held his gaze. “I shared this with Dean years ago. And yet...” A soft smile decorated the angel’s features. 

Sam cleared his throat and snapped Dean and Cas out of their impromptu staring contest. “So, uh I found a website for a place called _El Morro_. It's an old Spanish fort in San Juan. By the looks of it, you can go fly kites and have picnics there.” 

Sam gave his phone to Jack and the boy nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! That is the place I saw. Can we please go? I want to learn how to fly a kite. Maybe one of you can teach me?” 

Cas’s face brightens at the suggestion, “That sounds like a great idea. Should we leave now Dean?” He turns to face the hunter, a hopeful look on his face. Both the angel and his son looked like two freaking puppies begging for treats. Dean could never say no to that. 

“Alright, let’s go fly some kites.” Dean finished the rest of his breakfast and grabbed his keys to go.


	3. Kites

The ride from their hotel to Old San Juan was like taking a scenic ride on the surface of the moon. There were so many potholes in the road that a part of Dean felt like he was a cowboy from one of his beloved westerns. One look at Sam’s face while he was sitting in the passenger seat told him he wasn’t the only one that felt that way. The way he held himself against the car’s ceiling was almost comical. Dean tried his best to keep the car steady, but for the life of him, he could not fathom how locals drove on these roads every day. 

Dean glanced in the rear-view mirror. Cas and Jack were both sitting in peaceful silence. The constant rocking didn’t seem to bother either of them. _Freaking angels_. For a moment, Dean could have sworn that Cas was staring at him. Yet, as soon as he tried to meet his eyes, Cas turned his attention away to the apparently fascinating window. _Weird_. Jack, on the other hand, seemed to be content with looking out the window with utter fascination. 

“Are we there yet?” Jack asked cheerfully. He didn’t take his eyes off the window and had his nose nearly pressed to the glass. _Cute._

“Google Maps says we should be there in fifteen” replied Sam as he turned to look at their son. “Maybe we should stop and get some snacks first. We are gonna be there a while.”

“I suppose that is a smart idea. It will be good to stretch our legs.” Cas agreed with a nod. 

“Since when do you need to stretch your legs Cas?” Dean asked raising his brow. Cas met his eyes through the rearview mirror. 

“I don’t, but judging by your expression for the past hour, it looks like you could use a break.” Cas challenged as he held the hunter’s gaze.

“Fair enough, we can stop further ahead.” Dean conceded, turning on the car’s blinker. 

“Great, we can get some nougat. I would love some nougat right now.” Jack added with a toothy smile. 

Dean decided to pull into a gas station that Google Maps recommended as the closest stop. “Alright kid, come with me.” He started walking towards the door. “Cas, are you coming? Sammy can fill up the car.” 

They all made their way through the small store, grabbing snacks and drinks for the road. Dean went straight for the cheap beer, and Cas was thoughtfully regarding some honey-flavored candy in the back. Jack followed Dean around the store like a small puppy, grabbing all the nougat candy bars he could find. 

“That will be $45.67, handsome.” The young man at the cash register said with a wink. Dean felt his face warm slightly as the blush spread through it. The hunter developed a sudden interest on the floor and cleared his throat. The cashier smirked and proceeded to pack up their items in a paper bag. The flirtation was not lost on Cas’s ears. Even if he was currently near the back of the store flipping through a magazine, perhaps a little too forcefully. 

Dean was hastily rummaging through his wallet when he heard Jack speak up. “What does _‘perdido’_ mean Dean?” He was looking at a poster on the store’s window next to the register. The poster had a picture of a smiling child, and the all too familiar text describing their features. Dean’s stomach dropped. 

“It...it means ‘lost or missing’ in Spanish,” Dean muttered while turning his attention to the cashier once more. “Say, how long has this been up?”

The cashier took one cursory glance at the paper on the window and sighed. “It’s been there for nearly a month now. There’s other kids too. This whole place has really turned into a craphole lately.”

“Others? How long has this been going on?” Cas interrogated as he came up to join them at the register.

“A couple of months probably. I don’t know man, I ain’t a cop. They just ask to put up the posters and I let them.” The cashier didn’t meet their eyes anymore. He kept cleaning the countertop in front of them, his interest in Dean seemingly lost. 

Cas and Dean shared a worried, but knowing look. It seemed that this trip was going to be a little more than just kite flying. With a sigh, Dean picked up his phone and dialed Sam.

Back in the car, Sam had already started to do some research on his phone. “I'm checking all the usual channels and so far it seems like seven young children have gone missing in the span of 5 months.”

“Jesus, that’s bad. Did they find anything weird at the scene or on the bodies?” Dean said with a grimace.

“That’s the thing. No bodies have turned up yet. The local police actually think they might still be alive.” Sam muttered as he kept scanning different webpages on his phone. 

Jack’s head tilted slightly and his brows furrowed. “Why would someone take children and not kill them?” A sudden, tense silence overcame the car. It was suffocating.

“Well, Jack there’s many reasons for why someone would do it. It’s our job to find the monsters that do.” Sam offered as an explanation and a hopeful escape to the actual scarier answers. 

“Alright, then let’s go find the monsters and save the kids,” Jack exclaimed, practically falling out of the backseat. He was held back when he felt Cas gently grab his arm. “We would Jack, but we don’t really know if these cases are ‘up our alley’, so to speak.” The angel’s face was open, trying his best to help Jack understand.

“Yeah, there’s some monsters that aren’t ours to hunt, sadly. Some of these bastards are still deep-down human.” Dean added as he came to a stop in the red light ahead of them. 

Sam turned around to meet Jack’s eyes. “If you want, I can keep looking into this and if I come up with anything, I will let you know.” Jack hesitated for a moment but then nodded. Sam gave him a small smile. “So, how about you do some kite-flying while you wait?” 

Their son’s face lit up with a sudden spark of joy. “Are we here?” Cas chuckled and nodded. “Yes, look.” The angel pointed towards the car’s dashboard and the boy followed his line of sight. He gasped and immediately jumped out of the car, giving Dean barely enough time to finish parking. The sky was a beautiful light blue that was littered by small, moving dots of color. Each dot was moving pleasantly in the strong breeze, being pulled along by their attached strings. Jack followed the strings down to the many families looking up at their kites. He smiled wide as he turned back to his own makeshift family walking towards him.

Dean and Cas were bickering over who got to carry what out of the car. Sam simply rolled his eyes and started looking for a spot in the grass that they could claim as their own. He patted Jack on the shoulder and led him down the green slope, towards a patch of grass near the middle that was far enough away from the rest of the families. Jack had never seen the ocean so close before. The ancient walls of the Spanish fort had slowly eroded away and created a makeshift horizon that separated the sky from the sea. The boy could smell the sea salt in the air, and he took a deep breath. He hoped that it would stay in his lungs forever.

Cas came up behind them holding their picnic blanket and some of the snacks they had bought. He was currently wrestling against the wind to try and flatten their blanket out over the grass. Dean doubled over laughing at the sight. 

“What’s so funny Dean?” Cas challenged in his gravelly voice, one eyebrow raised in accusation. 

“Oh, nothing. Watching an Angel of the Lord playing playground parachute against the wind is something I didn't know I needed.” Dean sputtered through what could only be described as maniacal laughter. 

“I am sure it’s hilarious.” Castiel deadpanned. “Come and help me already.” The angel tried to sound spiteful, but everyone could see the slightly upturned smile he tried to hide. Sam was staring at his brother in disbelief. He hadn’t seen Dean act this happy in a really long time. He hadn’t seen his brother laugh in years. Sam decided to leave them to their devices and grabbed the red bundle that was sitting next to their bags. 

“Come on Jack, you have some flying to do. I can help you get started.” He said as he unrolled the bundle, and handed the string to the boy. He guided him through the basic principle, and as usual, Jack was great at picking up new things. New hobbies and passions for kite-flying included.

Dean and Cas managed to wrestle the blanket onto the ground, and Sam joined them soon after. The long-haired hunter continued his search for the missing children just as he had promised Jack. So far the case didn’t seem to turn up anything they recognized as signs of the supernatural. Maybe this was just a sad coincidence. Dean watched as Jack flew his red kite in the distance with nothing but pure glee on his face. 

“It is nice to see him enjoying himself,” Cas muttered as he stared at their son, smiling as Jack struggled to keep his grip on the kite against the strength of the wind. The kid snapped his fingers and the string became firmly attached to the plastic holder, which made it easier to fly. Jack grinned, pleased with himself. Sometimes it paid off to have some power-ups. 

In turn, Dean stared at the angel. His dark hair was shining brightly in the summer sun, which only made his eyes look more impossibly blue. His trenchcoat was flapping slightly in the breeze, and for a second it gave Cas the illusion of wings. Dean forced his gaze away from Cas and towards their son. A small smile crept up on him. 

“Man, we have been through a lot of shit, but...” a small sigh escaped him as he reached for the beer they had bought earlier. He offered one to Cas and one to Sam before taking one for himself, “It’s good to see that at least one of us is still happy.” He feigns a cheer by raising the beer in the air and takes a swig.

Cas turned to look at the hunter. Dean was staring off into the distance in Jack’s vague direction. His green eyes shining slightly as the light reflected against them, but his expression was guarded. For a moment, Cas seems to notice the hunter’s freckles for what seems to be the very first time. Or at least the first time in a very long time. They flutter across the bridge of his nose and cheeks, which only makes his features more prominent. _Beautiful_. 

“Maybe we should learn from him,” Cas whispered under his breath. His eyes strayed from the hunter towards the sea. The wind carrying off his whispered words.

“Did you say something Cas?” Dean asks. 

The angel shakes his head, feeling his cheeks burn with what he now understood was blush. They sat in companionable silence for a while, nothing but the warm sun and soft breeze hitting their backs.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After their afternoon spent kite-flying, the four boys returned to their home away from home. Jack was tired from the long day and had called dibs on the shower of his and Sam’s shared room. Sam had decided to keep working on the case along with Cas and Dean. Which is how they ended up in their current arrangement: Sam sat in the hotel’s dining table, looking through local case files and lore on his computer. Dean was scanning the television under the guise of ‘keeping up with the local news. (If by local news he meant Scooby-Doo reruns) and Cas was on dinner duty. 

“Dean, I think I have something,” Sam announced as he stood and made his way over to the couch his brother was sitting on. “Apparently they found two of the children a couple of hours ago. Alive.” He turned his laptop to face his brother.

“Well isn’t that a good thing?” Dean asked, taking the computer from Sam to look through the reports himself. 

“Yes, but they turned up with strange markings on their chests. Two circles with a line cutting through them.” Sam showed him the drawing he had made on a piece of paper. 

“Alright, so the freaks that grabbed them had a thing for branding?” Dean said as a knock came from the door. He stood up to answer it, and let Cas in. 

“Just in time buddy, we got a lead.” He helped Cas with setting out the food on the table. 

“A lead? What did you find?” Cas asked making his way over to the couch. 

“Well, do you recognize this symbol, Cas?” Sam said as he turned over the drawing he made. “It showed up on the chests of two of the children they have found so far.”

Cas took the paper and regarded the symbol. His brow furrowed and his head tilted slightly. “Yes, this is from a bonding ritual.” 

“A bonding ritual? What like marriage?” Dean asked incredulously. He left the food on the table in favor of walking toward his brother and the angel. 

“Not exactly. This symbol was used in a number of different rituals. Yes, marriage was the most common at first, but then it spread to kinship and even servitude.” Cas handed the paper back to Sam, the edges of his mouth downturned. 

“Servitude? What, so whoever took the kids was looking for a couple of handmaidens?” Dean looked between them, his fists clenched at his side. The thought of someone taking innocent children was bad enough, but making them slaves? Something about Cas’s face alerted Dean that there was something else. 

“Not just servitude Dean.” He turned to face the hunter completely. “This mark was used in the gathering of armies. I’m afraid someone is gearing up for a fight.” 

Dean nodded, taking in the information. “Well then, let’s find the bastard that is doing this and bring the fight to them.” 


	4. Missing

“_Muchas gracias, si espero su llamada._” Cas hung up the phone and turned to face his hunters. “The local cops don’t have much to go on right now. Said that the FBI could come down and take a look.” 

Dean nodded and reached for the lore books that Cas had temporarily stolen from the local library. “Well, okay we can do that in the morning. For now, who or what the hell bonds children into an army?”

“No idea, maybe some kind of weird vamp nest?” Sam suggested over his laptop, taking a swig from his beer. “Maybe it-” a small snore interrupted him. They all turned to look at the bed nearest to the door. Jack was sprawled out over the sheets, a book laying open on his lap. His chest rising and falling softly. He looked almost angelic. 

“So much for helping with research,” Dean chuckled and went back to his books. 

Cas walked over to Jack and gingerly took the book from his lap and set it aside on the nightstand. The angel removed his trenchcoat and draped it over his son’s sleeping form. There was a peaceful smile on his face, even as he slept. 

“We know that all the children were six years old. Besides that, they don’t seem to have anything else in common.” Sam ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his eyes. 

“Well, it’s a bonding spell, right? Could be a witch or a siren?” Dean pitched in, closing yet another useless book. 

“Yeah, my money is also on witch, but we won’t know more until we interview the victims.” Sam sighed and closed his laptop. “Either way, we are not doing anyone any good by staying up. I’m gonna hit the hay.” He picked up the rest of his things and left for his room leaving Jack behind. There was no use in waking him now. 

“Sam is right, you should get some rest, Dean,” Cas said, taking the hunter’s book from him. He went around their room throwing away the empty beer bottles. It wasn’t often that he got to share a room with Dean, so he felt a strong need to keep everything tidy. His friend would never admit it, but he was a neat freak. 

“Yeah, you’re right. Something just doesn’t sit right with this case.” Dean muttered, sitting on the remaining bed and untying his shoes. He sat there for a while, his elbows resting on his knees staring at the laces of his shoes. “Those marks didn’t look written on, they were _branded_. And they’re just kids, man. ” His voice breaks on the last syllable.

Cas made his way to the bed hesitantly. He placed one hand on Dean’s shoulder and sat next to him, their thighs touching. “I know this must be difficult for you. Especially now that-” Cas looks briefly at Jack over Dean’s shoulder, “now that you understand what it means to be a father. We will find whoever or whatever is responsible. I promise.”

“You’re right, this shit didn’t used to bother me so much before…” Dean’s gaze fell on their son, sleeping soundly on the bed next to them. Cas followed his gaze and nodded in understanding. 

“Jack has brought a lot to our lives. Love, family, vulnerability.” His hand was still on the hunter’s shoulder. It was warm and reassuring. “So it’s not all bad.” Cas angled his face towards Dean, silently asking him to meet his gaze. Much akin to the moment they shared in heaven’s green room what seemed like eons ago. The hunter did just that. When their eyes met a certain comfort went through both of them. Dean’s eyes softened and a small smile crept on his face. 

“You should write a book Cas. You are downright poetic.” Dean chuckled, breaking away from their trance. 

Small crinkles creased next to the angel’s eyes as he smiled at the hunter. “I suppose that I could consider writing as a retirement plan.” _Retirement. Now that was something neither had ever considered before. _

Cas stood and started to remove his shoes and dress shirt as well. Dean turned around under the guise of modesty. In reality, he didn’t trust himself around a semi-naked Cas. Which is why he had bitched and moaned when Jack had called dibs on bunking with Sam. But, everyone knows you can’t mess with dibs, so he ended up having to room with his (not that he would admit it outloud, but devastatingly handsome) friend. When the hunter finished changing into his sleep clothes, he turned to find the angel already laying down on the bed. 

“Wait, if you’re sleeping tonight where the hell am I supposed to sleep?” Dean inquired incredulously, barely meeting the half-naked angel’s eyes. 

Cas rolled his eyes and shifted to the left under the sheets. He left enough room for Dean to lay down next to him and gestured for the hunter to join him. 

“Hell no, we are not sharing. This ain’t summer camp.” Dean shifted nervously from one foot to another. 

The angel rolled his eyes again and burrowed further into his side of the bed. “We have a long day ahead, sleeping on the couch won’t do you any good and you don’t have keys to Sam’s room. It's just sleep, Dean.” 

Deep down Dean knew he had a good point. They were about to embark on a hunt in a place far from their usual playing field. He needed to make sure he was well-rested. Reluctantly, he reached for the bedside lamp. After he turned off the light, he made his way slowly closer towards the bed and pulled away the covers to slide in next to the angel. As close as he could manage without actually touching him. He felt Cas laugh next to him. 

“We have known each other for a decade. We have survived Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory together. Yet, you still insist on your precious personal space.” Every word resonated through the mattress and found its way to Dean.

“Well, maybe I would move closer if you weren't laughing in the dark like a creep,” Dean grumbled and slid slightly closer to the angel regardless. He kept his back facing the angel and tried to settle into his pillow. Even he had to admit that the warmth coming from his friend was nice. So, he closed his eyes and let the tendrils of sleep claim him. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A single ray of sunlight peered through the window, landing on Dean’s face. He stirred and a small grumble erupted from his chest. He felt warm. Perhaps a little too warm. Weird, he didn’t remember the bed being this soft…. He certainly didn’t remember the bed _moving_. 

That last thought clears his head entirely of sleep and his eyes open like a deer stuck in headlights. His eyes meet a familiar chin and lips. His gaze trails over the rest of Cas’s sleeping face which is currently a little too close for comfort. The ‘warm bed’ turns out to be none other than the angel’s chest. Just as Dean is about to panic, the aforementioned angel starts to rouse. Hooded, blue eyes meet frantic green ones. 

“Good morning Dean.” He whispers through a soft smile. His voice sends shivers down Dean’s spine. Shivers he would much rather ignore. 

“Uh, morning Cas.” The hunter mumbled as he shot up from their shared bed, nearly knocking over the bedside lamp in the process. He clears his throat and takes a scared glance down at himself. Still clothed. Good. “I'm gonna, uh. We need to. Yeah,”Dean stammered and proceeded to lock himself in the bathroom to get ready for their day. 

Cas takes a moment to orient himself. He had woken up slightly earlier, but when he noticed Dean resting on his chest, he decided to let him sleep. He had looked so peaceful, he didn’t want to risk waking him by moving. What the angel didn’t understand was Dean’s reaction. He seemed nervous to have woken up like this. A part of him would go as far as to say he looked _repulsed_. He chose to ignore those thoughts.. 

Cas also noticed that Jack was gone. He must have woken up earlier and left to find Sam. He had left the angel’s trench coat neatly folded on the bed. Cas decided to get up and check for himself. Just as he finished getting dressed, Dean came out of the bathroom. There was no sign of his previous panic, which the angel was grateful for. He nodded once in Cas’s general direction without meeting his eyes and left the room. Presumably to meet up with his brother and son. Cas followed soon after. 

After stopping for some breakfast, they decided to split up. Sam and Cas would go to interview the victims with their families. Meanwhile, Dean and Jack were at the San Juan Central Police Station, trying to get some more leads on the investigation. 

The station was crowded, different criminals being herded in for booking. Cops walking around discussing cases and even a jovial mail woman making the rounds around the office. Her metal cart filled to the brim with letters and packages with a radio precariously balanced on top. It was playing a salsa station they couldn’t really recognize, but she seemed to enjoy it as she sang the words under her breath. Dean and Jack made their way to the closest detective and flashed their FBI badges. 

“Hi there, my name is Dean Thompson,” Dean said with his typical charming smile. “This is my partner Jack Page.” He gestured to the kid, who flashed his badge with an identical charming smile. Just like his father taught him. 

The detective stared at their badges and nodded. She was a beautiful, dark-skinned woman with curly dark hair. The old Dean would have been all over her with his charms. But now? He feels the ring on his left hand and smiles to himself. An inside joke of sorts. 

“How can I help you guys?” She asked, staring at both of them with narrowed eyes. 

“We are here to look into the missing kids.” Jack chimed in, in a very serious tone. 

The detective’s face falls and her expression becomes solemn. “Follow me.”

She leads them both to the back room. There are two other detectives talking hurriedly to each other. It’s all Spanish, and Dean can’t follow a thing they are saying. There’s a huge board in front of them with pictures of the missing kids and the locations they were last seen. Their conversation comes to a halt once Dean and Jack walked into the room.

“_Aquí tengo a los del FBI, dicen que quieren trabajar el caso de los niños desaparecidos._” She invites the hunters into the room, and the detectives share a look before sighing and turning to them. One of them is tall with black cropped hair and hazel colored eyes. His partner is shorter, built like a linebacker, with a tattoo on his left forearm. 

The taller one reaches out a hand to them first. “Hey, my name is Edgar. That’s my buddy, Carlos. Normally we wouldn’t be too keen on having the feds stepping on our toes.” 

“But?” Dean asks as he shakes Edgar’s hand. 

“But we don’t have much to go on and we can’t keep sitting on our asses,” Carlos says as he reaches out to shake Jack’s hand as well. 

“Well, I’m Dean and this is Jack. So, tell me what we are looking at?” The hunter walks towards the board, trying to find his own pattern of weird. 

“There were seven kids taken from different locations, but always near some form of water,” Edgar mutters joining them at the board. “First kid near a river, second kid the ocean, etc.” He pointed at each location on the map. 

“Were the kids in the water when they vanished?” Jack asks, turning his attention towards the boxes of evidence on the other side of the room. 

“No, they were close but never in the water. All of the parents say that they saw them one moment and the next they were just gone. No sign of them anywhere.” Carlos added, taking a swig from the cup of coffee he had left on the table. 

“Did they notice anything weird at the scene? Strange smells, drops in temperature, anything?” Dean inquires and goes to join Jack by the boxes of evidence. 

Edgar and Carlos share a strange look. “No, nothing like that. Hell, we really are grasping at straws here. We don’t have DNA, fingerprints or anything.” Edgar responds eventually.

“We have the kids the bastard let go. They are not talking much though.” Carlos supplies. 

Dean nods and sifts through the boxes. Mostly there were clothes and other things that belonged to the kids. Nothing was necessarily screaming supernatural.

Jack finds a teddy bear in one of the boxes and turns it around. A small string was hanging from the back of the bear’s collar. He pulls on it and finds a zipper which he opens. There was a battery pack inside. “Dean, why would a stuffed animal require batteries?” The detectives turn to look at what Jack is holding and scramble over quickly to take the bear out of his hands. 

“You are not allowed to take these out of the bags. Are you insane?” Carlos yells at Jack, ripping the bear out of his hands. Dean steps between them, his hands held up in order to placate the raging investigator. 

“I’m sorry, he’s uh still in training.” Dean intervenes and everyone seems to settle down, but not without reluctance. 

A tense silence overcomes the room. Edgar cuts through the silence as he clears his throat and shifts towards his computer. “The batteries are for the nanny cam that was installed inside. The bear belonged to the third victim. His parents set up a couple of them around their house to keep an eye on the kids.” He pulled up a video and turned the laptop to face the hunters. 

“They had one in the kid’s room facing the bathroom, which is where the kid disappeared. We checked the footage, but there was nothing on it.” Edgar plays the clip for them anyway, tension evident in their shoulders. 

The video showed a small child’s bedroom decorated with cowboys and horses. The bathroom was in the right corner of the video with the door wide open. The kid is sleeping in his bed, everything seems still. The boy starts to stir in his bed, and bolts awake. He sits perfectly straight on his bed for a full minute, before getting out of bed and moving towards the bathroom. The child walks into the bathroom and out of sight from the camera. He never comes back. Dean rewinds the video back to when the kid bolted out of bed. His brow furrows and he stops the recording. For a moment, he swears he saw the kid’s eyes shine light blue. Shifter? 

“Alright, well. We are going to continue to canvas the area. If there are any new leads, you let us know?” Dean adds as he gives Edgar his business card. The detective looks at it and shakes his hand. 

“You got it. Keep us in the loop too.” 

Dean assured Edgar he would stay in touch and faced Jack as he tilted his head towards the exit indicating it was time to go. Jack left with a small salute to the detectives, which they returned hesitantly. 

Once they returned to the car, Dean called Sam and filled him in on what he had seen. They agreed to meet up either at the hotel or a diner to get something to eat once they had finished interviewing the victims. They could decide later, per Sam’s request. Dean hung up the phone, looked at Jack sitting in the passenger seat and grinned. 

“You hungry?” 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam and Cas had just come back from the first kid’s house. Sadly, the parents were still understandably guarded about their recently recovered child and demanded they come back with a warrant. They decided to try their luck with the second victim, Maria, which is how they ended up parked in front of the second victim’s house. 

“Alright, I’m thinking we can say that I am FBI here to look into the disappearances, and you are the child psychologist. Maybe that way they feel a bit better about letting us talk to her?” Sam says looking through his backpack for his badge. 

“I am in no way trained for speaking with traumatized children Sam.” Cas worries. 

“Yeah, well you are the only one of us fluent in Spanish. So, if anyone can understand the kids it’s you Cas. Just-” He takes one glance at the angel sitting next to him and meets his eyes. “Just take it slowly, don’t try to force anything out of her.” 

Cas nods solemnly and moves to get out the car. Sam follows suit and they make their way to the house. It’s a humble, single-story house in the middle of Vega Baja, a beach town. The house is worn down, but it still has a comforting vibe to it. You can hear the ocean closeby, a sound that Sam will never get used to. A lady answers the door after the first knock. She has short, grey hair that she has tucked away behind her ears. She eyes the men suspiciously, opening the door just a crack. 

“_Como les ayudo señores?_” She demands, her shoulders tight and her chin held high. 

Sam is about to respond when Cas raises his hand in front of him. “_Saludos dama, somos investigadores del FBI. Queremos hablar sobre el incidente que involucró a María._” Cas says in a gentle voice that surprises Sam. He prompts Sam to flash his badge. The woman hesitates before she nods and steps aside to welcome them inside. 

She motioned for them to sit in the living room chairs. “Um, do you prefer English?” she mutters. 

Sam does his best to seem friendly and smiles. “If that is alright with you Miss…?” 

“Sanabria. My name is Crystal Sanabria.” She extends a hand towards them and they shake it. “Can I get you anything?” 

Cas shakes his head. “No, thank you, ma’am. We actually would like to talk to Maria.” 

Crystal’s face fell into a frown, her gaze dropped to her feet. “She is still pretty shaken up. I don’t really think that it’s a good idea.”

“We want to let her rest. But, she is the only one that can help us catch whoever did this.” Sam lowered his voice, trying to be as gentle as possible. “Please, ma’am.” 

She stares at both men for what feels like a long time. She meets Cas’s eyes and the tension in her shoulders melts. There’s something about him that she knows she can trust. “Okay, but you will have to translate.” She points at Cas. “She doesn’t know how to speak in English yet, but she does understand it. I would translate but I… can’t bear hearing her go through everything again.” 

“Thank you, that won’t be a problem, Mrs. Sanabria. We will take this at whatever pace she wants to set.” Cas replies as they both stand to follow her to Maria’s room. 

Her room is bright purple with flowers painted all over the walls. Her toys are neatly piled in a bin at the far end of her room. Maria is sitting on the floor drawing when they come in. She doesn’t acknowledge any of them as they walk in. Crystal gives one last glance at the men and gestures for them to go ahead. Cas walks in first, dropping to sit on the floor next to the child. Maria stops drawing and looks up to the angel expectantly. She has beautiful curly hair and big, brown eyes. For a moment, she reminds Cas of the children’s movie Dean made him watch about a small doe.

“Hi there Maria. My name is Cas and that’s my partner Sam.” The angel’s voice is soft, and he is slightly hunched over. Watching him, Sam understands what he is doing. With the way he is sitting, he is making himself vulnerable, less threatening. _Smart_. 

“_Hola. Mister Cas_” the girl mutters, pushing a strand of hair away from her face. 

“I want to talk about what happened to you. You can say it and I can translate, okay?” Cas waits for her to break the silence. Always letting her make the first move. 

As she speaks and slowly works through telling her side of the story, Cas translates for Sam. “I was at the beach with my _mami_, playing with some toys in the sand.” 

“My favorite toy Hummu was taken by the waves, so I went to grab her but-” Maria stops and curls into herself, hugging her knees to her chest. Tears start to stream down her face. 

Cas reaches over to grab the girl’s crayons. He offers them to her. “You can draw it, if it’s too hard to speak.” 

She wipes the small tears away using her sleeve. She takes the crayons from the angel and starts to draw on a piece of paper in front of her. After a while, the shapes and colors start to take shape. She is by water, but then she isn’t. She wakes up in a dark, wet place alone save for the toy she tried to save from the water. Everything around her is rough, mossy stone and water. 

She grabs hold of another paper that Sam provides and keeps drawing. The picture she draws now is different. She can hear a voice, like music coming from deeper in the cave. She got closer to it and saw… a woman? The drawing looks vaguely like a woman, which she draws wearing all white. The girl draws what looks like tears in the woman’s face. The sound is coming from her, but now Cas isn’t sure if the sound was music or crying. The woman gets closer to Maria. She’s holding something in her left hand, something long and sharp. 

Maria stops drawing to reach for the red crayon. She colors the tip of the object bright red, as well as on the left side of her chest. She stares at Cas for a while, before moving her shirt to show him the mark that the woman had left on her. Two circles with a line crossing them, just like the other victim. Maria drops the crayons and hugs her knees to her chest once more. 

“_Gracias Maria_. You are very brave.” Cas’s eyes soften as he fights to keep the tears at bay. He can feel the girl’s fear and pain as clear as a prayer. It smothers the entire room. He turns to face her mother. “We will find whoever did this, I promise.” 

Crystal runs to hug her child, rocking her back and forth in her lap. “You better.” She snaps, making it evident that they had overstayed their welcome. They thanked her once again and quietly make their way outside. They shared a look as they walked towards their borrowed car, both of them silently deliberating what they had just witnessed. They got in the car and drove home. 


	5. An Ice Cream Sundae

Dean calls to check in with Cas and Sam. They agree to meet at a diner close to their hotel to compare case notes. A quick Google Maps check lets him know that they are only 20 minutes out. 

Jack is sitting in the passenger seat, contently looking out the window. “I enjoy watching the palm trees go by. There’s something different about driving here.” His voice is pure awe. 

Dean snorts. “Yeah, it’s like driving on the freaking moon.” 

Jack turns to smile at his father. “I rather like it, it feels like we are driving in a trampoline.” 

“Yeah well your back ain’t as old as mine,” Dean grumbles. 

They sit in comfortable silence for a while. They were both seemingly content with each other’s company. Jack breaks the silence by turning to face Dean completely. “Can I ask you a question, Dean?” 

The hunter side-eyes at his son before raising one hand in defeat. “Shoot.” 

“Is sleeping on top of another person more comfortable than sleeping on a bed?” The boy asks, his entire attention dedicated to his father. 

“Uh, well maybe? It depends on how you feel about the person I guess… why the hell are you asking?” Dean counters, confused. 

“Because I saw you sleeping on top of Cas this morning.” Dean nearly crashes after jerking the wheel violently at Jack’s words. A warm blush spread rapidly from his cheeks to his neck. 

Jack held on to his passenger side door, temporarily moving his attention to the road before turning back to his now very flustered father. “You looked very peaceful.” the boy adds. 

“Alright, look it's not... That wasn’t what it looked like.” Dean sputters, trying to keep his eyes on the road. 

“It looked like you were happy. Were you not happy?” Jack’s eyebrows furrow and his head tilts to the side in confusion. Sometimes he reminds Dean a little too much of Cas. _Dammit, stop thinking about Cas. _

“Look, Jack, we don’t always control what we do when we are asleep. Some people sleepwalk, but I, well I guess I huddle for warmth.” His voice trails off into a petulant grumble near the end of his sentence. The hunter does try to remain serious, but a small grin manages to push through his facade. Even he has to admit that sleeping next to Cas was the best sleep he’s had in years. 

Jack takes a moment to consider the hunter’s words before slowly moving back towards the window. He stops and adds “Or maybe you did what you don’t let yourself do when you are awake. You said it yourself, you don’t have control when you’re asleep.” 

Dean stares at his son before focusing on the road once more. He turns up the radio and they ride the rest of the way in silence once again. 

They finally pull into the diner’s parking lot with a bright neon sign that reads ‘Bebo’s Cafe’. Sam and Cas were already there, getting out of the car once they saw Dean park. They made their way inside and sat in a booth not far from the restaurant’s entrance. 

The restaurant is themed with pictures of beaches, palm trees, and tropical birds. Each table is laminated with pictures and quotes from Puerto Rican writers. Cas runs his hand under the quote that is on their table, a small smile on his face. “_En mí manda mi solo corazón, mi solo pensamiento, quien manda en mí soy yo._”

Dean is sitting next to the angel. He noticed Cas was staring at the table and followed his gaze. “Is the menu that interesting?” 

Cas met the hunter’s eyes and shook his head. “The quote that is decorating our table, I feel that it is very fitting.” 

“What does it say?” Sam asks, not taking his eyes off the menu in his hands. 

“It’s part of a poem which says: ‘In my heart- only I rule, in my thoughts- only I rule, inside myself- only I rule.” Cas recites, his deep voice almost reverent.

“Well, that is Team Free Will’s new motto right there,” Dean adds through a smile. He takes a picture of the quote with his phone, for safekeeping. 

Their waitress came to the table then and started taking their orders. Jack decided to try some of the local food, while Sam and Dean stuck to their classics. Once the food came, their son stared wide-eyed at the huge plantain bowl filled with shrimp that was set before him. The hunters stared too, it smelled delicious and for a second they considered getting it instead of their meals. Maybe next time. After the waitress left them alone to enjoy their meal, they brought out their notes on the case and walked each other through what they had learned. 

“Alright, so the kid said she was being held in a cave?” Dean asks, looking at the pictures of the drawings that Crystal had sent them for reference. 

“Yeah, judging by the description caves seemed the most logical assumption. I actually looked into it and there aren’t that many caves on the island.” Sam added, opening up his laptop to show them what he had found so far.

“There are only three that are accessible to the surface.” He points at their locations in the map. 

Cas looks at the locations and points to one in the far left. “This one is the closest to a water source. Considering how our monster takes its victims, this seems the most logical.”

Sam hums. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Those are the ‘Cuevas de Arenales’ they are normally a tourist spot, but there’s some areas that have been closed off for safety reasons.” 

“Alright, so what monsters do we know that are crying women that drag kids into caves? Cause that don’t sound like anything I’ve seen before.” Dean said around a mouthful of his sweet plantain burger. 

“It could be a mermaid! They like attracting their victims with song and live in water.” Jack adds on a hopeful note. 

“That’s a nice theory Jack, but I am afraid that sirens don’t normally attack children,” Cas says as gentle as possible, trying to be supportive of his son. 

“There’s also the bonding ritual. Why would they bind these children to them and simply let some go?” Sam ponders. 

Dean runs his hand through his hair. “Okay, so creepy crying woman that lives in a cave and is obsessed with Matilda. Sounds peachy.”

“Maybe Sam and I can keep researching possible monsters, while you and Cas go out around where the children disappeared and try to lure it out?” Jack asked the table, unsure of how they would react. 

Sam smiled. “I think that’s a great idea, Jack.” He turned to Dean. “Take Cas for a ride close to water and keep a lookout for Ms. Trunchbull.” 

Dean meets Jack’s hopeful gaze and rolls his eyes. “Alright, fine. But we are going to the hotel to change out of these monkey suits first.” Dean grumbles.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once they changed back to their regular clothes, Sam and Jack stayed behind in their hotel room to look into the lore and try to figure out who they were dealing with. Dean and Cas made their way out to their car and sat there with the keys in the ignition unsure of where to go. 

“What exactly are kid-friendly spaces near water sources?” Dean asked, rubbing his eyes. 

“Well, we know it can be any kind of water source. So as long as where we go has indoor plumbing, we should be fine.” Cas supposes. “Actually- well nevermind.”

Dean catches the angel’s hesitation. “Do you have an idea of where to go Cas? I’m all ears.”

Cas opens his mouth as if to speak, but hesitates. Eventually, he gives in. “I saw an advertisement for a ‘_Señor Paleta_.’ It's a brand new ice cream parlor in San Juan. It seems like a place that would attract a considerable amount of children and well...” 

“And you really want to try their ice cream.” Dean finishes for the angel, grinning when he sees the angel’s cheeks develop a slight pink tinge as he nods in agreement. _Cute_.

“Well,” Dean clears his throat and turns on the ignition. “Let’s go gank a bitch and eat some ice cream.” 

The ice cream parlor was a short drive from their hotel. They arrived to find several families sitting in front of the parlor enjoying their delicious, cold treats on a hot summer’s day. It was like a scene from a fifties movie. When they walked into the parlor, they were immediately hit by the delicious smell of warm waffle cones. Most of the tables were occupied by couples smiling and feeding each other ice cream sundaes. Dean and Cas stood out like a sore thumb. 

Dean spotted an empty table by the corner and placed a hand on the small of Cas’s back to lead him to it. The angel tensed in his grasp before moving to sit on the chair opposite Dean. He couldn’t quite meet the hunter’s eyes. 

“Sorry about that Cas, we need to blend in with this mushy crowd so.” Dean shrugs and shifts his chair slightly closer to the angel. He has a clear view of the bathroom from this table. Perfect. 

“It’s fine Dean, I don’t have your qualms regarding personal space” The angel places his hand on the hunter’s, smiling. “Remember?”

Dean’s eyes widen, an electric pulse coming from where the angel was touching him. The hunter tries to lie to himself. “Yeah, uh good cover.” He fails. 

“Look, um how about you go get yourself whatever you want and we can get this show on the road.” Dean slides money across the table and the angel retrieves it. For a second his face lights up like a child on Christmas morning. Dean watched as his friend walked to the countertop, and cheerfully ordered for what seemed to be both of them. He took a moment to scan the rest of the tables, no one seemed to be acting suspiciously. A couple with two small children joined the table next to them.

Cas returned to the table holding two ice cream pops. He slid the chocolate one towards Dean, actually intent on having the hunter try it. Dean met Cas’s eyes and tilted his head towards the family close to them. “Those two seem about six years old right?” 

Cas follows the hunter’s gaze and hums in agreement. “We should keep an eye on them, the rest of the children in this parlor are not the right age.” 

“But first” The angel pushes the dessert closer to his friend. “Try this, it’s very delicious.” He takes his own ice cream and takes a sizeable bite from it. 

Dean scrambled to take the ice cream away from his friend. “You’re gonna get some serious brain freeze if you keep that up.” He chuckled at Cas’s kicked puppy face.

“Why would this place serve such dangerous soft serve?” The angel questions, his voice deep and conspiratory. 

Dean stares at him, dumbfounded at how someone so powerful could be so… _Adorable?_ There’s a brightness in Cas’s eyes that intensified at the thought, almost like he knew what his friend was thinking. “No, that’s not-” Dean sighed and shook his head, a small grin on his face.

“You really haven’t changed have you?” Dean asked, not taking his eyes off his best friend. 

“You asked me not to,” Cas responds with a look of pure devotion, his tone soft and warm. The hunter is stunned into silence as he remembers that night under the light post. A memory from years ago. _Don’t ever change_. A good memory. 

Looking at Cas now, he realizes he has never seen so much _feeling_ directed at him before. Not like this. Dean moves without thinking and finds himself slowly inching closer to Cas. His gaze roams from impossibly blue eyes to reddened lips. A warmth brewed inside him making him want to get closer to the angel. Almost as if he was magnetic. He is interrupted by one of the couple’s children standing and moving away from the family table while his parents weren’t looking. 

“Heads up, one of the gremlins is on the move.” Dean tenses, keeping an eye on the bathroom as the kid keeps walking steadily towards it. The tension broken, they both spring back into action. _Case. Focus on the case. _They leave their desserts unattended, focus shifting to the child who seemed to be walking in a trance-like state. They share a look, wordlessly agreeing on how to proceed.

Cas disappears from their table and suddenly appears in the bathroom before the child reaches it. The faucet opens of its own accord when he appears and water starts running down the sink. He can hear something from under the sound of running water. A screeching, ear tearing sound that reminds the angel of wailing. The sound is paralyzing, even to his angelic ears, yet no one outside of the bathroom seems to hear it. He struggled but managed to close the faucet and made the screeching stop. 

Dean was able to reach the child in time and saw the boy’s eyes go from glossed over to normal. Dean turned towards the bathroom and saw Cas standing in the doorway. He gave Dean a thumbs up. The child’s parents finally noticed that he was gone and they ran towards the hunter with panic in their eyes. Dean raised his hands defensively. “He’s okay, my uh” He paused to look at Cas who came up to join him. “My partner and I noticed your kid was running off without you. Thought we should tell him to come back.” 

The parents looked relieved once they saw their son was unharmed, but they took him away from the hunter with suspicious eyes regardless. 

“We should get out of here Dean” Cas whispers in the hunter’s ear, moving to place his hand on the small of the hunter’s back. “We are starting to arouse suspicion.” Shivers ran down Dean’s spine, and his hand clenched to keep himself from just reaching out for the angel. He should be focusing on the case, but there’s just something about Cas…

Dean nodded in agreement but didn’t quite meet Cas’s eyes. He walked out the door with his friend in tow. Once they were back in the car, Cas reached for his phone and called Sam, putting him on speakerphone. 

“Sam, I think we might have a lead on the creature,” Cas says a little too loudly into the phone. 

“Did you run into her?” Jack asked, his voice sounding impossibly small through the speakerphone. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, we are okay. She was about to take another poor kid, but I think Cas stopped her.” Dean added, sparing a glance in Cas’s direction. 

“Way to go, Cas,” Sam adds cheerfully. “Did you get a good look at her?” 

“No, she wasn’t physically at the ice cream establishment. She was using the bathroom faucet to communicate. Her voice sounded almost like painful wails to me, but it seemed to put the children in a trance-like state.” Cas supplies, pointedly looking at Dean as if asking for his corroboration. 

“Yeah, the kid’s eyes glossed over like they were freaking glass eyes. They were really weird.” Dean adds with a shrug. 

“How did you snap the kid out of it?” Sam asks.

“I simply turned off the water source, the faucet. The noise stopped after that and the child returned to normal.” Cas’s voice was nonchalant like he hadn’t described the easiest way to stop a monster in history. 

Sam huffed. “If only we could do that with large bodies of water.” He takes a moment and sighs. “Okay, we haven’t found much yet, but what you are describing sounds like something more powerful than a ghost. There’s not a lot of things we know that do mind control. That should help narrow the list.” 

“Okay, well Cas and I are in the car now. We can meet you back at the hotel and figure this shit out?” Dean asks.

Sam is about to agree when Jack intervenes. “Actually, maybe you should stay out and find another place with children. You stopped it once, but maybe it still wants to try again.” 

“He has a point, Dean.” Sam agrees without missing a beat.

The hunter looks at his friend in the passenger seat for support, but Cas only shrugs. “Alright fine. We can keep playing house, but you better figure out what we are dealing with fast.” 

With that, Cas hangs up the phone and places it back in his trench coat pocket. “Where to next?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading so far! I have some exciting things in store for this fic. 
> 
> The quote that Cas finds on the table in this fic is originally written by Julia de Burgos, a famous Puerto Rican poet. :)


	6. Sunset

Sam and Jack sat beside their hotel room’s table in companionable silence surrounded by various lore books strewn across the floor. Father and son typing away on their respective computers trying to find the monster that was plaguing the little community. . Though he wished the situation was different, Sam was grateful to be spending time with their son, _his _son. After all, bringing everyone together was the entire purpose of this family vacation. Speaking of which, judging by the time, Sam suspected that Cas and Dean might have gone back to vacation mode. The sun had already set, yet still no word from them. He decided to shoot them a follow-up text just to make sure they were okay. With a frown forming on his face, Jack closed yet another lore book that was fruitless in their search. He rubbed his eyes and tried to hold back a yawn. 

“You should get some rest Jack, I can keep looking into this,” Sam said, concern in his eyes. 

“No, I’m not tired. I can help, I can be-” Jack trailed off into yet another yawn, his arms stretching over his head, “-useful.”

Sam huffs “Yeah buddy, I am sure you can. But you don’t have to. Come on.” Sam stood and closed Jack’s laptop. The kid relents and let himself be led over to his bed. 

“Okay, maybe you’re right. I should get some rest. My vision is getting blurry.” The boy grabs his bag from under the bed and gets his pajamas out. They’re the fluffy cowboy pajamas that Dean picked out for him. He smiles. “But first, I have a question!”

Sam looks at his son and finds his face full of curiosity. “Of course Jack, what’s up?” 

“Has Dean ever been in love?” 

Sam is thrown by the question. He was expecting the typical teenager stuff. Hell, he even thought maybe Jack wanted to know what being queer was. But this? 

“Well, yeah three times by my count. That I know of at least. Why?” Sam sits down on the bed facing his son. 

Jack sits opposite his father, cradling the pajamas in his lap. “When was the last time?” He is staring at his lap, pensive. “The last time he was happy with someone?” 

Sam’s brow furrows, and then smoothes out. Oh. That’s what this is about. “I think-” A small smile spread across Sam’s face, he looks at his hands in his lap. “I think he still is. I think there’s someone in his life right now that makes him truly happy, but-”

“But he can’t see it.” Jack finishes, understanding in his eyes. 

“Yeah, trust me I’ve been trying to fix that for years.” Sam chuckles. 

“The person you are talking about,” he says tentatively and doesn’t meet the hunter’s eyes, still unsure if he should voice his thoughts, “Its Cas, isn’t it?” Jack does look at Sam this time, almost like he already knows the answer, but wants someone else to confirm it. 

Sam stares at his son, wondering where the boy got his intuition from. _Must be his mother’s side_. “Yes, its Cas. How did you know?” 

“I suspected it for a while. Before I raised Cas back from the Empty, Dean was…” Jack’s brow scrunches and his head tilts slightly, sometimes he is exactly like his father, “Dean was sad, broken. But when I brought back Cas? He was _happy_.”

“And just like that, you knew he loved him?” Sam probed.

“Well, yes I knew he loved him. But Dean loves you and me too. I didn’t realize it was a different kind of love at first. Not until yesterday.” Jack added with a small smile.

“What about yesterday?” Sam questioned as he made his way to get his beer that had been left on the table. He takes a swig. 

“Oh, well I saw them sleeping together yesterday.” Jack quipped. “Dean was on top of Cas and he looked very happy.” 

Sam spit out his beer and coughed violently. He certainly did **not **expect _that_. “You saw them sleeping together? Ahem, um do you mean actually sleeping or…?” 

Jack’s head tilts in confusion again. “Of course they were sleeping, what else would they be doing? _Oh_” A blush spread across Jack’s cheeks.

Sam releases the breath he was holding, eager to change the subject. This was not a conversation they needed to have today. “Okay. Why are you asking me all of this, Jack?”

“I just wanted to know that I wasn't the only one that could see it. I think they could make each other very happy.” Jack’s eyes were hopeful, and with a snap of his fingers, he changed into his pajamas. 

“They’ll figure it out someday, don’t worry. Now get some rest” Sam turns off the bedside lamp next to Jack’s bed. 

“Oh they will, that’s why I sent them out on their date.” Jack yawns again and settles in bed. 

Sam huffs, impressed. “Goodnight Jack.” he chuckles and heads back to the table. Personally, he thinks the matchmaker scheme will have to wait until after the case was done. 

“Goodnight, Sam.” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dean and Cas drove away from the ice cream parlor parking lot with no clear destination in mind. They rolled the windows down and decided to drive down by the coast. The air smelled of sea salt and sand. Hopefully, they could find families enjoying the warm summer sun, . Secretly, they both wanted to lose themselves within each other. Enjoy another stolen moment, just like it had been for years. Dean smiled as they drove for what seemed like a thousand miles. They made occasional small talk, mostly just content to be in each other’s company. 

Every now and then, Dean would sneak a glance at the angel sitting peacefully in the passenger seat. He was looking out the window, watching the trees go by. His dark hair was slightly more frazzled than usual, and a bit of stubble littered his jaw. He had forgone his trenchcoat due to the warm tropical weather. As an angel, he didn’t feel the heat, but he found that people still looked at him strangely when he wore it in the island’s weather. So, he had stripped down to his white dress shirt and rolled up the sleeves. These were all facts that were deeply ingrained in Dean’s mind, mostly due to the fact that he couldn’t seem to stop fixating on them. He was reminded of the time he dropped off Cas for his first date, that night he didn’t stop Cas from leaving the car. Now he’s not so sure he would make the same call. 

“You were right, Dean. Driving by the coast is very liberating.” Cas turns to look at him now, catching the hunter red-handed staring back at him, making his cheeks flush. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty great.” Dean meets the angel’s eyes briefly and clears his throat. “I have an idea of where to stop. How long has it been since you’ve seen a sunset?” The hunter grins and steps on the gas. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They come to a stop in front of a small wooden fishing shack. It’s a small one-room store, filled with freshly caught fish. It’s right in front of the coast, where people tended to buy their food and enjoy it with their feet in the sand. Dean discovered this place the first day they arrived and had been longing to come back. He removes the keys from the ignition and gets out of the car. His friend follows. 

“We already ate ice cream, Dean. I am not sure I am in the mood for more food?” Cas says as his brow furrows in confusion. He stares at the seafood shack in front of them. 

Dean rolls his eyes. “I know Cas, I didn’t bring you here for that.” He takes a moment to grab their picnic blanket from the car’s trunk before locking it. “Just- come with me.” 

The hunter leads them closer to the coast. Families and couples are laying in the sand, basking in the warm sun and waiting for the sunset. The waves are crashing on the shore, slowly dragging the bits of sand away. Erasing the evidence that it was ever there to begin with. Suddenly, Dean turns away from the shore and starts heading towards some trees. Confused, Cas follows the hunter, ever loyal to the human. They come up to the thick bushes and trees, and Cas expects the hunter to stop, but he doesn’t.

Dean pushes aside the bushes, making a path for the angel. “You coming?” 

“Of course,” Cas responds without hesitation and goes through. After walking a little further, they come to a small clearing away from the rest of the crowd. The trees form a thin canopy that keeps the clearing in a cool shade. The shore is right in front of them now, and Cas walks towards it and dips his hand in the water. “Why are we here, Dean?” 

“Well, uh. I remembered that you mentioned you wanted to see a sunset on the trip.” The hunter shifts nervously, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck. He gently lays the picnic blanket on the clearing floor, nervously smoothing down the edges. “I found this place a couple days ago, and-” He shrugs.

Cas tries his best to keep calm, even though his heart wants to leap out of his chest. “I said that months ago. I didn’t think you would remember.” A smile creeps up on the angel, and he accepts Dean’s invitation to sit on the blanket with him. They settle in, sharing the soft sound of the waves licking at the trees on the shore. The sun is still a little too high on the horizon, but neither of them minds the wait. 

Dean steals the occasional glance at the angel, hesitant. He has a question he wants to ask, but he’s not sure if he wants to hear the answer. Yet, he doesn’t know when they will get the chance to be alone like this again. It might be his only chance. The sun keeps descending in the sky and the wind is slightly rustling the leaves above them. 

One leaf falls delicately on Cas’s head. The angel grabs it and stares at it with a small smile on his face. At that moment, fleeting rays of sunlight cut through the canopy and fall on the angel’s face. For a brief moment, Cas looks downright angelic, shiny halos and all. The last of Dean’s hesitation is gone then. “Cas, can I ask you a question?” 

The angel turns to look at his friend, laying the leaf down between them. “Of course, Dean. Anything.”

“Why have you been acting weird around me lately?” Even as he asks, Dean can’t quite meet his friend’s eyes. 

“I don’t understand what you mean?” Cas shifts slightly away from the hunter, regardless. 

“Common Cas, like right now! When have you ever willingly put space between us?” Dean demands, one brow raised. He turns to face his friend fully, sunset temporarily forgotten. The angel keeps staring at the horizon in silence. 

Dean sighs and pinches his temple. “If I did something to upset you Cas...”

“You haven’t Dean. It’s just-” The angel chances a glance towards the hunter and shrugs. “Ever since we got Jack back, everything we went through- everything I went through- helped me realize some things about myself. Things I hadn’t fully understood for years.” 

“And what does that have to do with you suddenly realizing personal space is a thing?” Dean probes. “What about today huh? With the ice cream and the staring?” 

Cas meets the hunter’s eyes briefly before trailing slowly down his body. Taking him in for the last time. His gaze stays fixed towards the ground between them. The silence between them is charged, making the tension almost palpable. “I thought I made myself clear months ago in that barn when I thought I was dying.” His voice is barely above a murmur.

He meets the hunter’s gaze. “I love you, Dean. I have known that for years, but it is only recently that I have come to accept-” His stomach drops, afraid of saying what he knows out loud. “Accept that you don’t feel quite the same way. You said it yourself.” For a second, Dean seems to be about to protest, but Cas can’t let himself hope like that anymore. 

“I am a brother to you, Dean. Always have been.” 

The sun is starting to set and it paints the horizon in a warm, orange glow. The waves curl slowly over themselves in the distance, creating ripples of white foam at their base. _It’s beautiful._ “Thank you for bringing me here, Dean. I appreciate the gesture.” Cas leans back, holding himself up with his hands and stretches his legs out on the blanket. Content to at least share what he suspects is his last moments by Dean’s side. The sun is setting for them...in more ways than one. 

Dean is shocked into silence. He remembers Cas confessing months ago, but he couldn’t bring himself to think that it was anything other than familial… Yet, now he’s here, saying everything Dean never thought he would hear. He doesn’t know what to do, he feels lost. Someone just pulled the rug out from under him, and he can’t quite get back on his feet. The silence drags on for so long, the sun has already set and night has slowly draped over them. 

His eyes find themselves gravitating towards the angel. Cas is staring at where the sun disappeared. He is eerily still, a part of him still afraid that if he moves the moment will be shattered. The old Dean would have tucked tail and run out by now. The old Dean would have punched his friend in the face. The old Dean… The hunter shakes his head, he’s not that man anymore. Dean lets his eyes roam down his best friend’s body, down his chest, down his arms, ending at his hand. He has a choice here, and he knows it. 

Cas sighs in defeat and moves to stand when he feels a slight pressure on his right hand. He follows it and finds Dean’s hand covering his own. “Let’s stay a little while longer?” Dean whispered, his voice weak and unsure. Whatever air was left in Cas’s lungs is knocked out of him. Cas is overcome with emotion, trying his best to fight against the tears. He nods, and Dean released a breath he did not know he was holding. They stay like that, sitting peacefully next to each other on the blanket, hands clasped and relishing in each other’s company. There’s a lot they should talk about, but for now? For now, it’s just them. 


	7. Llorona

The hotel room is quiet. It has been a while since Sam heard anyone pass by their room. The television is on at a low volume since Jack claims it helps him sleep. The hunter glances at the room’s digital clock: 2:35 am. Sam is currently burning the midnight oil trying to find anything in the lore that could lead them to the monster they have been looking for. He stands and paces around the room to stretch his legs and go over what they already know. 

Their monster takes the shape of a woman, has an obsession with children, which she abducts using water-powered mind control… He has ruled out pretty much every monster in his father’s journal and his personal experience. _Oh, maybe it’s…_ He pinches himself and waits. _Shit._ He goes over to his notebook to scratch Djinn off the list. They need a new lead. He decides to try and find his phone and check if Cas and Dean made it back. They hadn’t reported in yet which was strange for them. As he is walking past the television, something on the screen catches his eye. 

It seems to be a trailer for something, but what catches Sam’s eye is the woman. The monster is a ghost of a woman that is terrorizing children, seemingly shocking them to stay still. Interesting. It’s a trailer for a horror movie. _La Llorona_. Many rigorous hours, several beers and one snoring nephilim later, Sam believes he finally might have caught a break. He scrambled to find his phone so he could call his brother. 

He finds his phone buried under several piles of lore books he had set aside. He dials the number and immediately hears the familiar ringtone tearing through the silence a couple rooms over. Okay, good they made it back. 

“What’s up Sammy?” Dean answers with surprisingly no sleep-induced grumble. Huh, he expected them to be sleeping by now. Weird. He shakes his head and reminds himself of the task at hand. “Get over here, now. I think I have a lead.” 

Cas and Dean knock on his hotel room door 5 minutes later, both of them fully dressed in the clothes they had been wearing when they left. Sam eyes them curiously but lets them pass regardless. 

“What do you have Sam?” Cas asks in a lowered voice, obviously trying not to wake Jack up. 

Sam brings his laptop over to them and shows them the trailer he saw. “I saw this movie trailer for ‘_La Llorona_’ on TV and thought that the M.O. seemed similar to our case. I decided to see if it was based on any actual legends. Turns out, I was right.” He flips through the tabs in his computer excitedly, showing them the different legends he had found. 

Dean takes over the computer so he can read for himself, standing perhaps a little too close to Cas. A fact which is not lost on Sam, but he decides to ignore for now. “Alright so you found a lead at Blockbuster?” he asks, suspicious. 

“Well, yes. You see she goes by different names depending on the country she inhabits. Here in Puerto Rico, she’s ‘_La Llorona_’ or Weeping Woman. But, she’s all over Latin America. She’s always a woman that has lost her children somehow and is trying to get them back. No matter what.” Sam starts pacing softly through the room, trying to figure everything out as he explains it. 

“I recognize this Weeping Woman lore.” Cas interrupts, adding air quotes. “She is normally a very powerful, vengeful ghost. She would often cause trouble for our reapers by taking children that weren’t hers. However, I have never seen one use mind-control before?” 

“Yeah okay, I thought about that, so I looked a little deeper into it. There’s a Brazilian version that sounds more like ours. Over there it’s referred to as an “_Encantado_”. They are shape-shifting river spirits that use songs to control the minds of their victims, normally children.” Sam says, over his laptop. 

“So, she’s the Brazilian boogeyman?” Dean quips and earns a smack to the back of the head from Cas. The hunter stares at him with mock offense, and Cas rolls his eyes, a small grin on his face. 

“Okay, and is there anything in the lore on how to gank the bitch?” Dean asks, moving to the mini-fridge to get himself another beer. 

Sam’s eyes squint and he starts typing again. “Not sure. This says it can only be killed with a-” Sam’s eyes widen and his jaw drops slightly. Dean and Cas look at him expectantly. 

“It can only be killed with a sword dipped in the blood of pure devotion.” Sam finishes, leaning back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. 

“What the hell has blood of pure devotion?” Dean asks, exasperation making his voice slightly louder. “Why can’t these lore books say stuff like normal people do?”

“Dean-” the angel interrupts. “I know where we can get the blood.” 

Dean turns to face the angel, his arms crossed in front of his chest. “Oh yeah, Cas? Enlighten me, cause right now I’m about to go and-” 

“You need to use my blood. Only you can kill her, Dean.” Cas deadpans without further explanation. Sam and Dean share a look before turning back to their friend, concern evident on their features. 

“What the hell are you talking about Cas?” Dean demands, getting closer to the angel. Their eyes meet in an impromptu staring contest. Cas breaks their silence first by reaching out to grab the hunter’s hand. He tries to communicate what he means without words, unable to utter them again out loud. Sam is the first to understand. 

“Because you’re purely devoted to Dean. You’re... _in love_ with him.” Sam adds, breathless at the angel’s confession. He keeps an eye on his brother’s reaction, expecting an overcompensating explosion of toxic masculinity. Yet, there was nothing? Dean’s eyes widened and moved down to stare at their hands clasped together. His heartbeat rising steadily, causing a small hum to go through his ears. 

“Okay, Cas,” Dean whispered, still holding on to the angel’s hand. Sam stares wide-eyed, moving back and forth between his brother and his friend. _Is this really happening? _

“Wait, wait, wait. I need a minute here. I mean, Cas, I’m glad that you finally said it. I’ve known for years, but YOU!” Sam points at Dean now, righteous fury in his eyes. “Cas finally mans up and admits his feelings and you just say ‘okay’?” 

Dean’s gaze drops to the floor, before slowly rising up to meet Cas’s eyes once again, a small grin on his face. “Well, what can I say Sammy? Cas and I have been over this already. You’re the one who needs to catch up.” he adds a wink for good measure. Cas returns his gaze, looking at the hunter like he had hung the moon for him. 

Sam sputters, looking between them until he finally sighs in defeat. He rubs his temple, already sensing a headache forming. “Uh, okay. Okay. Fine, we can deal with this later. Let’s get the gear ready, and we can go hit her lair in Luquillo tomorrow?” Sam proposes. 

With everyone on board, Sam starts packing up their gear. He hands Dean one of their spare iron knives, and sends him and Cas off to their own room. Something about not wanting to be around for the bloody mess. They didn’t blame him. 

\---------------------------------------------------

Once they are in their own room, Dean and Cas make their way towards their beds. They sit opposite each other in complete silence. The day had been a long and confusing one. Dean was worrying over the blade his brother had handed him, moving it back and forth between his hands. “We don’t have to do this Cas,” Dean grumbled out. 

Cas moves to stand and kneels in front of the hunter, his left hand reaching out to hold Dean’s again. The touch seems to soothe the hunter, the tension in his shoulders melting away. “We need to save the children, Dean. This sacrifice is worth it.” The angel’s voice is firm, leaving no room for argument. He moves to sit next to his friend, pulling his shirt sleeves slightly higher. He extends his arm out for Dean to reach and waits. 

With a sigh, Dean uncaps the glass bottle they had found in Sam’s room and sets it next to his feet. He makes sure that it is within easy reach of his friend’s soon to be injured arm. He places the knife across Cas’s forearm and hesitates. He lets his eyes roam towards his friend’s face and meets his eyes. A silent question, permission, brewing behind his gaze. The angel nods and takes a deep breath as Dean pushes the blade against his skin. He curses and reaches quickly for the bottle to avoid making too much of a mess. He supposes they should have done this over a sink, not on his bed. He wishes they didn’t have to bleed Cas. He hated causing his friend pain. Yet, he knew they had a case to solve. _Saving people, hunting things and all that bullshit. _

The blood is drawn without so much as a peep from the angel. Once they had enough, Cas used his grace to heal his wound. A blinding white light shone from the cut on his forearm and then there was no trace of what Dean had done. They both sighed in relief. Dean set the closed bottle aside and went over to the sink to wash the remaining blood off the blade. The room was silent, the air around them felt thin as glass. They refused to speak as if one word would shatter everything around them. Everything they had built. _Cas loves me,_ Dean considers in awe. The realization leaving him a little breathless. The hunter hears the soft shuffle of the angel moving towards him. The strong footsteps come to a halt behind him and Dean turns to face the angel. The blade forgotten in the sink. 

Cas takes a moment to take the other man in. Dean’s face is framed by his tousled, blonde hair and stubble. His freckles stand out like stars on a clear night sky and Cas finds himself lost in them again. The weight of his feelings have been lifted off his shoulders. He is fondly reminded of Dean singing like he was “walking on air” when he thought no one else could hear him. That is exactly how Castiel feels at this moment. Angel of the Lord, fallen from Heaven, feeling like he was flying for the very first time. Dean has yet to move away from him, and a part of Cas hopes that it means he can feel this too. The raw energy between them. He was willing to do anything for the Winchesters. He would do anything for Dean. 

Yet, he can’t bring himself to kiss him. 

He moves away from the hunter, clearing his throat as he lets his gaze fall to the floor. “I hope that it was enough,” Cas adds, his voice rough. His true meaning hiding behind his rough words. _I hope I'm enough._

Dean blinks once, twice, trying to come to terms with what just happened. He was sure that Cas was going to… He snaps out of his train of thought at the angel’s question. He nods slowly, swallowing thickly. “Yeah, uh. It’s enough Cas.” He clears his throat and steps away from the angel. He tries to find solace in cleaning the blade, trying to wash off the evidence of their own private ritual. Even as they settled in their own beds and tried to lull themselves to sleep, both the angel and the hunter felt the atmosphere around them had changed. Dean dreaded having to face tomorrow and tried to drown himself in restless slumber. 


	8. Yunque

The smell of strong coffee flooded Sam’s senses as he slowly stirred in his bed. As the hunter opened his eyes, he found Jack standing by the room’s tiny sink fumbling with the coffee maker. He looked almost frantic, like a junkie waiting for his fix. 

“You sure have gotten into the local coffee.” Sam chuckled, slightly startling the nephilim who had not noticed the hunter had woken up. 

Jack turned to face the hunter with a toothy smile. “It’s just so much sweeter than the coffee we get at the bunker. Can we take some of this home?” His voice squeaked, and it was details like that which made Sam forget he was talking to anything other than an innocent child. Just a child, not an angel that killed his… A small, sharp pain struck his heart at the thought. It was best not to think of her at times like this. 

“Sure, we can stop by the store before leaving for the airport” the hunter murmured, trying to keep his voice steady. He sat up in his bed, stretching his arms above his head. He turned to set his feet on the ground, taking in the cold hardwood. His nightshirt stuck slightly to his chest, possibly from all of his tossing and turning the night before. He glanced briefly at the clock, 6:15 am it read. They were still a little early, but he decided to call his brother’s room anyways. Cas wasn’t exactly a morning person, so it would take them some time to get ready. He grabbed the phone on the nightstand next to his bed and waited. Six, seven, eight rings later there was still no answer. _Weird._

He could hear the phone ringing through the thin walls of their motel, which meant that the phone was certainly working. Sam quickly stood, startling Jack who had just taken a seat by the small couch to watch TV with his coffee. 

“Where are you going?” The nephilim asked over a sip from his ceramic cup. 

Sam grabbed the gun he kept under his pillow and stuffed it into his sweatpants. “Gonna check on Dean” he manages to grumble as he stumbles out of their room, trying not to panic. What if something went horribly wrong last night? He shouldn’t have left them alone to gather the blood. Especially not after Cas’s confession. He wants to send a small prayer that Dean has not done anything stupid, but stops himself. No one is truly listening anymore. 

He stands in front of his brother’s room and bangs on the door. “DEAN!” he screams at the top of his lungs, his voice strained from the exertion. As he prepares to bang on the door again, it suddenly swings open in front of him. Sam releases his grip on his gun when he sees his brother standing in the doorway. He is still wearing his sleep clothes, hair slightly tousled and eyes barely open. He definitely just woke up. 

“What the hell Sammy? It’s barely morning.” Dean gruffs out, annoyance practically pouring from his tone. 

Sam is about to question why he hadn’t answered the phone, since they had agreed to leave by 6:30 am at the latest. However, he stops when he sees a figure turn slightly in Dean’s bed. A masculine figure, with black tousled hair and stubble: Cas. Sam glanced at the other bed in the room and noticed it was still made. It took all of Sam’s willpower to suppress his grin as he answered his brother.

“Nothing. I tried calling and you didn’t answer. I got worried. I’ll let both of you get ready...” The words rushed out of Sam’s mouth, eager to leave before he exploded in glee. _They slept together. **Again**._

Dean’s brow furrowed at his brother’s hurried response but shrugged and closed the room’s door. He couldn’t see his brother walking back to his room. But if he had, he would have seen him fist pump into the air silently, looking exactly like a man that had won a $50 bet with their adoptive mother Jody. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the strange encounter with his brother, Dean stumbled back towards his bed. He had to start waking Cas up, they didn’t have long before they had to leave. The notoriously non-morning angel was breathing softly under the covers, his eyelids fluttering occasionally. The morning light was starting to stream through the room’s window, falling delicately on his features. He looked every bit the angelic being he was supposed to be. _All he is missing is the harp. _A small smile cracked on Dean’s face at the thought. Taking a deep breath, he sat on the edge of the bed and pushed Cas slightly with his right hand. 

The angel grumbled something either unintelligible or in Enochian. Either way, Dean had no idea what it was. He kept shaking him slightly. “Wake up buddy. We gotta start getting ready.” The hunter’s voice was soft, cautiously trying to avoid startling his friend. After a few moments, Cas stirred and his blue eyes opened to find shining green ones staring back at him, mirth swimming in their gaze. 

“Rise and shine, sunshine!” Dean exclaimed, suddenly eager to yell now that Cas was actually awake. A small warmth grew in the angel’s chest when he heard the endearment Dean had used so many times before. _Sunshine. _Their eyes met briefly as he said it, and Cas could feel the warmth inside him spread even more. 

They had tried sleeping apart, but halfway through the night, Cas couldn’t take it anymore. He had not left his heart on his sleeve just for Dean to turn around and try to pretend nothing happened. So, the angel stood up and made his bed hastily, resolute on sleeping in the hunter’s bed. When he reached Dean’s bed, he hesitated. What if he didn’t want him? What if Dean turned him away? Just as Cas was about to turn back, he heard the rustling of bedsheets below him. Dean smiled and raised the bedsheets, inviting the angel in. “What did I tell you about acting like a creep in the dark?” Cas chuckled and bent to join the hunter under the covers. He took in the warmth that suddenly enveloped him, and the comforting smell that was unequivocally _Dean’s_.

A smell that was currently overwhelming, enveloping the air around him. That was enough to snap Cas out of his thoughts and realize his daydream had resulted in said hunter hurling a t-shirt at his face. He smiled to himself, it seemed like their own kind of an inside joke. Cas held the shirt against his chest and looked at Dean questioningly. 

“I don’t think button-downs will work in a slippery cave. So just, borrow some of my shit.” Dean grumbled, his face reddening a little more with each word. For a moment it seemed like Dean’s people skills were a little rusty too. Cas’s face shone with a vibrant smile, and Dean couldn’t help but roll his eyes at his reaction. Still, the angel could see the hint of a grin on his friend’s face, and the warmth in his chest spread through his entire body... 

They dressed as quickly as they could. Both stealing the occasional glance in the other’s direction. As they grabbed their keys and gear, Dean hesitated by the door with his hand still on the handle. He turned to look at Cas, his mouth open like he was about to say something, but the words never came. He shook his head and headed down the hall towards breakfast with their son and his brother, who had an incredible habit of prying into his business. There were words left unsaid, but they could wait for the opportune moment.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Being back on the road felt natural for all of them. Now that they had a game plan in mind, they set their sights towards catching their monster. It was, after all, what they all did best. The boys had finally settled in their usual arrangement, Cas opting for sitting behind Dean and Jack behind Sam. As the passengers each glanced out the window in silence, Dean grew slightly nervous. He was mulling over those pesky unspoken words in his head, trying to find that moment he was waiting for. The hunter would have killed for some kind of sign. He cleared his throat, _there’s no time like the present_. 

“In 400 meters turn right.” the screeching voice of the GPS cut through the car’s silence. It felt like a sign if Dean had ever seen one. For the first time in his life, he did as the universe told him to do, and turned right. They all stared in wonder as the hot asphalt road turned into gravel paths that ground against the wheels. A canopy of giant trees slowly enveloped the sky above them until their bright sunny day turned cloudy and full of fog. Cas lowered his car window and felt the fresh breeze hit his face. 

“Wow, the temperature dropped a solid 5 degrees!” Sam exclaimed, turning his phone towards his brother’s face. 

“I can definitely feel it.” Cas rasped, enjoying the sweet scent of flowers tickling his face as they drove by mountain after mountain. “Shut the AC off, we don’t need it here.” He spoke in Dean’s direction, and the hunter obliged. They drove for 15 more minutes, content to enjoy the sweet-scented breeze and the cool temperature that felt like a respite from the harsh, hot temperatures of the city. They came up to what could be loosely referred to as a parking lot but was, in reality, a small plot of land that people left their cars in. Since it was a Tuesday morning, the plot was empty save for them. 

They parked at the far end, which left them closer to the beaten dirt path they would take up to the waterfalls. Jack practically jumped from his seat, eager to get closer to the flowers that could be seen growing on the side of the road. “These are all so amazing!” The boy whispered as he drew nearer to the flowers in question. They were beautiful, typical yellow Heliconias that were drenched in the morning dew. The grooves between the flower’s petals served as water basins for bees, which inevitably drew Jack’s attention. 

“Cas, look! This one has bees!” Before the boy had finished his sentence, Cas was already hovering next to him, eager to catch a glimpse of his long-lost friends. The bees were frolicking from one petal to the next, shaking off the pollen they had picked up along the way. They seemed utterly unbothered by the presence of humans, perfectly content in their own little paradise. 

“It seems like they have a wonderful and peaceful existence here. It’s almost un-_bee_-lievable.” Cas whispered conspiratorially to his son, quite proud of his pun. Jack snorted, trying to hold back his laughter, but a cheesy grin still managed to make its way through.

Both angels knelt before the plants, taking in the other wild specimens growing with abandon. Each inch that they claimed felt like another inch that nature won over humankind. A small space that these delicate flowers managed to carve for themselves in a world that made it impossible to breathe. Cas found a kindred solace at the thought. 

The loud thump of the trunk of their car closing startled the angels, making them snap out of their little flower expedition. Still, as they stood, Cas and Jack shared a look and smiled at each other. Lost in their own father-son bonding activity. 

Dean handed Cas a gear bag, his brow raised questioningly. “Didn’t know you still cared so much about bees.” The hunter teased, grinning with amusement. Cas simply shrugged and mumbled something akin to “They’re cute” through the blush forming on his cheeks. To anyone else their conversation would have seemed benign, but Cas knew better. He remembered the last time Dean had seen him with bees quite vividly. His cheeks flushed even further. 

“Alright, enough flirting you two! We need to focus,” Sam called out, already making his way to the dirt path with his backpack and son in tow. It was now Dean’s turn to blush and make a show of swiftly following his brother’s lead, which only made Cas chuckle. 

The dirt path wound around the entire rainforest and was frequented by many spelunkers and tourists. It was a popular path because of how closely the canopy covered the road. Large, oak-like trees towered over everyone that walked in the path, even over a giant moose like Sam. Gigantic spade-shaped leaves bent down from the weight of the morning dew collecting on their surface. Drops of water falling could be heard all around them and gave the whole space a constant illusion of rainfall. The air was crisp and cool, which only served to refresh them as they walked. The sun glimmered against every raindrop and made the entire forest seem resplendent. 

“This rain forest was nominated to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World." Cas beamed, his eyes scanning the canopy above them as they walk. "Even though it didn't win, I believe it still holds its own small wonders." The angel adds as he caresses the leaves hanging closest to him. Dean stares at his friend and smiles quietly to himself, content for the first time in years. "We have our own wonders too.” 

After walking further inland for a while, they stop to rest at a small clearing. The grass is short and flattened in this area making them think this was a common resting spot for other travelers. Sam rummages through his bag and pulls out several snack bars that he shares with his family. They all sit in a tidy circle on the grass, the sound of cellophane crinkling in the soothing silence of the forest. 

“We should go over our plan for today. I want to make sure I get it right.” Jack asks sheepishly, almost as if he was ashamed of having to ask. 

Sam gives their son a warm smile and gently places a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I think that sounds like a great idea.” He turns to face his brother and looks at him expectantly. Dean nods and reaches in his own bag to pull out a map of the forest. They had always been good at anticipating what the other needed. One of the perks of living life on the road together for over 30 years. 

Dean set the map in the clearing between them and walked them through their strategy. “Based on where we are right now, we are only a couple yards away from the nearest cave entrance.” He points a little higher on the map from their current location, tapping the map lightly with his index finger. “It should be behind a waterfall, which makes sense considering the bitch seems to need water.” 

Cas peers over Dean’s shoulder to glance at the map and then looks forward on their path. “Yes, there’s a shortcut if we veer off the path further ahead.” The angel adds while standing up. “Once we reach the cave, we can track her down from there. I’ll try to sense her presence with my grace.” Cas holds out a hand to Jack with a reassuring smile. “Maybe you can help me with that?” Jack takes his father’s hand and nods, a stern look on his features. “Of course, I will try my best.”

“Well then, it’s settled!” Sam interjects, putting the remnants of their snack break back in his bag. “Let’s go, we need to make it to the cave before dark.” 


	9. Waterfalls

The foliage in front of them was dense, making it harder to walk through. Cas’s shortcut had saved them nearly an hour of walking, but it hadn’t made the trip any easier. A fact that Dean made sure was not lost on his friend. 

“Damn Cas, next time pick a shortcut with a little less thorns, babe” the hunter teased, pushing aside a branch. 

The angel ignored him and pushed aside some branches that were obstructing the path ahead of them. The branches parted to reveal a glimmering waterfall that fell into a tranquil river that flowed further into the forest. There were some lizards sunbathing on the rocks near the shore, keeping a wary eye on the birds that flew above them. 

Cas turned towards Dean, with mirth swimming in his eyes. “You were saying, _babe_?” He added with a smirk. Sam snickered and moved past them towards the water. Dean rolled his eyes and tried to pretend he didn’t hear the angel sass him, but the warmth in his cheeks betrayed him.

As they neared the waterfall, the sound of roaring water became louder and louder. By the time they were able to make their way behind the stream, the sound was practically deafening. A perfect hiding spot for a monster hiding scared children._ No one would be able to hear their screams_, Dean thought as a cold chill raced down his spine. Each of the boys crossed the stream and jumped into the cave entrance. Sam dove in first, while he cursed and hissed at the water’s cold temperature. He took a moment to tie his soaking wet hair back and away from his face. The rest of the hunters followed suit with their own string of profanities. 

The cave was dark, barely any light made it through the waterfall. It was nearly impossible to see more than a few yards ahead of themselves. However, the soft scratches and wing flaps that resonated through the rock walls let them know that they weren’t alone. Jack turned on his flashlight and aimed it towards the deeper end of the cave, which startled a small nest of bats. They flew away, going over their heads to hide in another nook somewhere behind them. With the flashlight on, they could see the moisture accumulating on the cave walls, which made the entire space feel damp and sticky. 

The hunters moved further down the cave, each with a knife and a flashlight in hand. They scanned across the cave walls, looking for any sign of life, or maybe another tunnel they could follow. Their map could only take them so far, from here on, they had to rely on instincts alone. 

“Are you getting anything from angel radio?” Dean whispered as he neared Cas, trying to keep the noises they made to a minimum. Considering they were dealing with a vengeful spirit, they wanted to try and maintain some form of the element of surprise. 

Cas took a moment to really listen, his head tilting slightly to the side as he concentrated. His grace was weaker than it used to be eons ago, but every day he was slowly gaining a bit of his strength back. Regardless, he couldn’t sense a presence, or hear the screeching that he had come in contact with the day before. Just as he was about to tell Dean, he heard it. A small, fragile voice asking for help. It was far away still, but Cas could hear them clear as day. 

He gestured to the brothers and silently asked them to follow him. The angel used his grace to sense further down their path, trying to pinpoint the source of the cry. 

“_Ayuda..._” This time they all heard it. A heart-shattering plea for help from what sounded like a frightened little girl. They were close. Dean and Sam turned off their lights, in order to get a better grip on their knives. Using the light from the angel’s flashlight they walked in front of Jack and Cas, trying to locate the exact origin of the plea. Suddenly, Jack stopped moving and pointed his flashlight directly in front of him. He stood frozen as he stared at what was on the other end. There was a small child, trembling on the cave floor, holding up a hand to shield her eyes from Jack’s light. Sam quickly stowed his weapon away and rushed to the little girl’s side. He tried his best to soothe her. It was hard to make out her features in the dark, but judging by her clothes and the missing posters with her picture, Sam confirmed that they had found Ella, one of the last kids to be taken. Even from where he was standing, Jack could see the brand on the girl’s shoulder. Two bloody circles and a line cutting through them. They had finally found _La Llorona’s_ lair. 

“Jack, come and take her back towards the entrance.” Sam’s voice boomed in Jack’s ears, snapping him out of his frozen shock. He scrambled to help the little girl stand and tried his best to smile comfortingly at her. Even in her daze, the sight of a younger face seemed to help soothe her. She was covered head-to-toe in dirt and grime, and her other hand was clenched around a small cloth doll. Before Jack could usher her back towards the entrance to wait for the others, she grabbed hold of Sam’s sleeve. Her brown eyes stayed glued to his shirt, unable to meet his eyes. She whispered in his ear, “Bad lady has more kids…” her small hand shaking as she pointed towards a dark tunnel that lay straight ahead of them. Sam nodded and whispered his thanks before signaling Jack once more. 

As the nephilim took the girl to relative safety, the hunters followed the girl’s instructions. The dark tunnel was smaller than the rest of the cave, which forced them to walk in almost in a single file. There was a soft rustle that echoed all around them in the tunnel until the walls finally gave way to a cavern. The cavern floor split in half by an underground river that fed spots of moss on nearby rocks. Even though the river was flowing, they could barely hear the sploshing. The moment they stepped into the cavern an incessant screeching shattered against their eardrums. 

Both hunters were practically immobilized by the sounds, dropping to their knees with their hands pressed tightly against their ears. For a brief moment, Dean was reminded of the last time he had felt like this. The pain he had felt when Cas tried to contact him in his angelic form. Somehow, the screeching that filled his ears now was worse. The angel, however, wasn’t affected. The screeching buzzed in his ears, but he was able to pinpoint the source of it. 

On the other side of the river stood a ghastly woman dressed in white. Her eyes were sunken, framed by ghostly pale skin that was tinged with what looked to be glimmering tears. Her mouth was wide open as she screamed, and she had her arms outstretched around the four remaining children. The children stood perfectly still with their eyes glossed over, seemingly taken over by a trance. _La_ _Llorona. _She was surrounded by small fire pits that were each encircled with salt lines.

Dean and Sam continued to writhe in pain next to him. Cas ached to be able to help them and frantically searched for a way to stop her. In a second, the angel knew he had to find a way to stop the source of the water, just like he had done before. The river flowed into the cavern from an opening on the far right side. He scanned the floor around him, looking for anything that might help him. He found a solution that weighed approximately 234 lbs: a small, stone boulder. As the angel made his way towards the rock, the spirit followed his movements and started shrieking louder. She raised one of her hands and quickly dropped it to her side, which caused a large stalagmite to fall from the ceiling a few inches away from the angel. Cas evaded the sudden rainstorm of rocks she sent in his direction by zig-zagging across the cavern floor. Quickly, he picked up the stone with ease and used it to block the river’s flow. The water slowly stopped trickling down the cavernous space, and the screeching stopped. 

The hunters took advantage of the respite to lunge at the spirit’s form. Dean and Sam charged at her with their knives, but the spirit vanished from view. She reappeared behind them and pulled Sam back by his long hair throwing him to the floor. He swung his knife wildly ahead of him, trying to cut her on the way down. His knife managed to connect with her side, but simply went through her like she was made of air. She crawled over Sam’s form and raised her arms above her head. Sam closed his eyes and braced for impact, but before he could feel anything he heard a shrill scream. Dean had slashed at the monster’s arms and managed to cut deep into one of her arms. The cut leaked a glowing substance instead of blood, and she tried to stop the bleeding with her remaining hand. Dean paused to stare at the bloody knife in his hand. It was covered in a dark substance that he recognized as Cas’s blood from the night before, but now the tip was tinged with the same glowing liquid coming from the spirit’s arm. His eyes met his brother’s and his shock confirmed his suspicion. _The blood of pure devotion had worked._ The ghost turned to stare at Dean, her head tilted as she regarded him quizzically. Her eyes fell on the blade in his hand and she hissed at it. 

“What the hell are you?” Dean demanded as he stared at the monster’s glowing blood. She grinned, and tried to take a few steps forward, but hesitated when Dean raised the blade in her direction once again.

“My name is Malinche.” The ghost’s voice was grating to their ears, almost like nails scratching a blackboard. She turned to face Cas, who was slowly trying to make his way towards the children. “Get away from my children.” She hissed, her eyes filled with seething rage. 

“They are not yours. You stole them.” Dean prodded, trying to get closer to her. She turned to face the hunter again, but kept a close eye on Cas, rooting him to the spot. 

“No! I am taking back the children that were taken from me.” She screamed before lowering her grating voice to barely a whisper. 

“The ones that Cortez took from me.” Her voice broke as soon as she uttered Cortez’s name, as if the mere mention of the Spanish conquistador’s name brought her back to her living days. “These children may not be _my_ blood, but soon they will be _mine_,” she adds, and at that moment a marking carved on her chest lights up. The same two circles and a line crossing through them. “I will _never_ be alone again.” The light framed her face and shone on her frantic eyes as she laughed maniacally, her gaze focusing on Dean’s blade. 

She charged at Dean with fiery anger in her eyes, her white dress glimmering as it became soaked in her strange blood. The hunter met her halfway and stabbed her straight through the heart. He held and slightly twisted the knife, just to make sure she was truly dead. In her last moments, she stared directly into Dean’s eyes and whispered strange words with a grin.

“_Simul usque ad mortem._”

The ghost’s eyes closed slowly and her visage melted into thin air in front of Dean. The knife disappeared with her. Cas was ushering the scared children away from the fight.hey had snapped out of their trance when the water source ended. Dean scanned the cavern until his eyes fell on Cas. Something within him stirred, urging him to go to the angel. He felt his left arm burning, as the words repeated in his head, consuming his thoughts. _Simul usque ad mortem. Simul usque ad mortem. Simul usque ad mor-_ The angel met his gaze and they both descended into unconsciousness.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cas was the first to stir. He felt detached from his vessel, his grace fighting to bring him back from his involuntary sleep. Sam and Jack’s voices briefly registered, but they seemed thousands of miles away from him. His entire body seemed to burn from a strong heat that was coming from his arm. He slowly opened his eyes to find a bright light that shone above him. Jack’s blurry face came into view, and his voice got louder. 

“Cas, are you okay? CAS!” the boy’s voice broke on the last syllable. His eyes wide and scared. He looked as terrified as Dean had looked every time he had held Cas in his arms as he died. 

Cas propped himself up with his arms slowly, as Jack steadied him. The boy sighed in relief when he felt Cas’s heartbeat. The first word out of Cas’s mouth was the one that always came easily to him: “Dean.” 

Jack smiled knowingly, “He was also knocked out. We are not entirely sure what happened, do you remember anything?” the nephilim asked, as he pointed to where Sam was watching Dean intently, trying to jostle him awake. 

Cas turned to stare at the hunter as he lay on the ground next to him. They were all outside now, Sam and Jack having dragged them out of the cave once they collapsed. The kids were settled underneath a nearby tree, all huddled together for comfort. Cas opened his mouth to speak again, but the words wouldn’t come. He had no idea what had happened, only that he was here now, and that the burning in his arm was getting worse. 

The angel reached out to touch Dean, intent on using his weakened grace to check him for injuries. Sam and Jack shared a look, but otherwise, let the angel try to help. They both knew how much Dean meant to him. To all of them. The moment Cas’s fingers came into contact with the hunter’s arm, he felt an electric shock come from the hunter and go straight to the burning in his arm. He flinched and his face contorted in pain. 

“Woah, Cas! What was-,``''Are you okay?” Sam and Jack each questioned. Sam’s brow furrowed as he stared between the angel and his brother. 

“I am not sure. It felt like your brother shocked me, b-” Cas began to explain, but at that moment Dean woke up with a start. He shot up quickly, nearly hitting Sam’s face and startling the three men. His eyes were opened wide and frantic, and he quickly turned to face the angel. “Cas,” he said breathlessly. The burning in Cas’s arm intensified at the sound, and he finally pulled back his sleeve. There, he uncovered a set of words etched underneath his skin. The same words that had taken over Dean’s mind. 

_Simul usque ad mortem._

Dean saw the words on the angel’s arm and quickly pulled up his own sleeve. There was an identical set of words underneath his skin. Their eyes met, and silence fell over them. Sam was the first to break it. “Uh, Cas any idea of what that means?” He asked pointing at the words.

Cas nodded and answered without breaking eye contact with Dean. “Together until death” he whispered. The moment the words left the angel’s mouth, Dean felt the same words bubble up inside him. They escaped his mouth without him being able to stop it. An intense warmth went through both of them once they uttered the words, which made both hearts race and thump rapidly against their chest. The air around them shifted, making the air seem cooler and the trees an almost impossibly vibrant green. At once the words disappeared and gave way to another marking: 

Two symbols that Cas would later recognize as the Enochian word for “Us.” But for that brief moment, Cas and Dean shared a single breath, a single body, and a single mind. The symbols somehow a tribute to their profound bond. 

There were a thousand questions in each of the hunter's minds, but a small sneeze snapped them out of their racing thoughts. The five children were still sitting by the nearby tree, looking at the men intently. There were words left unsaid, and feeling left unchecked. But for now, they had children to bring back home. Saving people, hunting things, the family business.


	10. Homebody

Their line of work required sacrifice. Every morning, hunters knew what they had signed up for. A life full of pain, death, and suffering. Yet, it was days like this that helped Sam and Dean remember why they had decided to live life on the road. 

After their brief stint in the forest, they had driven back into town and dropped the children off at the central police station. They had managed to convince the officers that they had managed to track the children down to that specific cave “on a hunch.” The boys weren’t sure if the cops bought the story because they were convincing enough, or if the cops were just desperate enough to bring the children home. None of that mattered. What mattered was the fact that the children were standing in the station now, being hugged by their loved ones because they had saved them. _Thanks to them, they were safe._

Some of the parents mulled around them at the station, thanking them profusely for their efforts. The pure joy in the children’s faces made up for every drop of bloodshed. They had helped reunite families. Cas looked at his own makeshift family. Dean and Sam clearing up some final facts with the detectives, and his son Jack, who was currently at a vending machine buying a candy bar for one of the kids. The angel felt his heart glow as it filled up with love and pride. Each of them had their own wayward story, but they had managed to find a home in each other. That is something he would never give up. 

They stopped for food on the way back to their hotel, all of them eager to eat and finally get some sleep. As they made their way to their room, Cas and Dean kept stealing the occasional glance at each other. Right. They had saved the day, but there was still a lot left unsaid. Dean’s hand itched to reach out to the angel, to hold him like he had just a couple days earlier. Maybe they needed another sunset. 

Before Dean could open the door to their room, Sam stopped him. “Maybe we should all meet up in my room and talk about… you know.” Sam questioned, and one glance at Jack told him he wasn’t the only one thinking it. 

Dean shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, we probably should I guess.” Then he paused and stole a brief glance at Cas before adding “But, man I stink, so let me shower first and then we can do your whole pow-wow moment.” He didn’t meet the angel's eyes and simply opened their room door. Cas nodded in Sam’s direction and gave a soft smile to reassure his son before following the hunter. 

As Dean and Cas walked into their room, the angel hesitated by the door. The events of the morning still weighed heavily on his mind. In just a few days, he had come closer to Dean than he ever had in the past. Yet, something still didn’t feel right. He had poured his heart into everything he did for the hunter. Into every hopeful glance, and every hug that lasted a little too long. Something seemed to be weighing Dean down as well. He stood by his bed, ruffling through his bag a little to mechanically, shoulders tensed. Going through the motions. There was a feeling inside of the hunter, that he wasn’t sure if he was ready to address. 

The lock on the door clicked into place, and Dean looked up towards the sound. Their eyes met and Dean felt the air shifting again. Just like it had in the middle of that damn forest. And just like it had that day in Purgatory so many years ago. He felt exactly the same way he had so many years ago, but this time he understood it. 

_I love Cas._

The realization hit him like a freight train at full speed. In a second, their entire friendship flashed through his mind. 

The first spark:_ “I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition”_

The first doubt: “_I’m not a ‘hammer’, as you say. I have doubts _” 

The first sigh: “_Don’t ever change._” Dean had whispered with tears in his eyes. 

The first fight: “_I gave everything for you! I did it, all of it, for you!_” 

The first Us vs. the world: “_We’re making it up as we go._” 

The first choice: “_Sorry buddy, but I’d rather have you, cursed or not._” 

The first proclamation: “_I love you, I love all of you._” 

That was the tipping point for Dean. Eleven years they had spent skirting around each other. Eleven years of finding a way back to each other again, of _choosing_ each other again. Dean dropped the bag he was holding and made his way towards the angel. They stood barely a hair’s breadth away from each other. Cas’s breath hitched as he stared at the hunter, eager to close the distance between them, but refusing to make the first move. He needed to know Dean wanted this. He needed to know that it wasn’t all in his head. 

It took all of Dean’s strength to reach up and cradle the angel’s face in his hands without shaking. Dean paused and searched Cas’s eyes for approval, he needed to know he wasn’t the only one feeling this. He knew he wouldn’t be able to come back from this. The angel’s reply came in a breathless whisper of the word that always came so easily to him: _“Dean.”_ And that was all the hunter needed. 

He closed the gap between them, and the moment their lips touched, Dean felt a sun’s warmth burn inside him. Eleven years of waiting for this moment. Eleven years of _want_ poured into a single kiss. The angel sighed into the kiss and the entire moment felt like coming home for the very first time. Every nerve ending collapsed in that moment, short-circuiting Dean’s brain to only register this moment. He felt Cas’s hands caress his back, pulling their bodies closer. There were eleven years worth of words said in just this one moment. 

As they paused to catch their breath, the couple stared into each other’s eyes. Cas tried to count the freckles he loved so much, and Dean just wanted to dive into the ocean of the angel’s eyes. The hunter let the warmth that coursed through his veins take over and whispered the words he had kept buried for eleven years. 

“I love you too Cas.” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After that kiss, Dean didn’t know how he was supposed to separate himself from Cas. He wanted to be near him every second for the rest of his life. The thought made his heart race. Yet, common sense told him he needed to take a shower. Fighting cave monsters isn’t exactly a rosy affair. He needed to face the facts: he stank. 

With all the effort he could muster, he put some distance between them. “Cas, I need to stop man, I really fucking need a shower,” Dean grumbled, as he tried to ignore the angel’s soft whimper in protest. His heart clenched, but he still managed to grab the clothes he had been looking for and headed towards the bathroom. It wasn’t until he almost reached the bathroom door that he realized there were steps following him. He turned to find Cas staring at him, his pupils blown wide. There was an adorable blush delicately frosting his cheeks and nose. He looked like he was mulling over a specific question in his head. Dean wanted to kiss him again. 

“Maybe I could join you?” the angel asked, his voice rough with obvious arousal, but still with a hint of hesitation. The suggestion made Dean’s thoughts stop in their tracks. His mouth was suddenly suspiciously dry, and the warmth he had felt in his heart was starting to spread… elsewhere. There were about a million words he would have loved to say in that moment, but the first one that came out of his mouth was certainly the last one he thought he would say.

“No.” The moment the word left the hunter’s mouth, Dean could see the fear and doubt come into Castiel’s eyes. 

Castiel’s brain went into overdrive, _had he misread the entire situation? No, it couldn’t be. That kiss… he was sure-_

Dean quickly made his way to the angel and held him in his arms, fearing the panic that had set on his face. “Cas, baby. I don’t mean no to everything, just no to the shower.” He tried to get the angel to meet his eyes as he stumbled through his words. “I mean, it's not that I don’t wanna see you naked, cause trust me I am dying to, but I know I won’t stop and I want the first time to be special and not just a quick thing, cause-” The angel stopped the hunter’s litany of words with a deep kiss. Relief sunk in Dean’s shoulders, the fear that he had messed up melting away with every touch of Cas’s lips. 

“You are so dumb sometimes, Winchester,” Cas added with a smile. Dean let out a short laugh, with a smile that reached his eyes. Then the angel leaned in to whisper in the hunter’s ear “You have exactly 7 minutes to shower before I go pull you out of there myself.” His words punctuated by a small slap to Dean’s ass which made the hunter gasp. He nodded profusely before practically running towards the bathroom. 

After precisely 6 minutes and 47 seconds, Dean came out of the bathroom covered only by a towel around his waist, and water droplets that dripped slowly down his chest. He came out to find a sight that made all the blood in his body rush immediately south. There on their shared bed, Cas laid entirely naked, his body completely on display for Dean to see. The hunter’s gaze roamed slowly down the angel’s form, from his tousled black hair to his gorgeous blue eyes with pupils blown wide, down the side of his neck, his broad shoulders, the tanned skin of his toned chest, and further down to his navel that Dean could practically taste. An intense hunger glowed in Dean’s eyes and for a brief moment, Dean realized the angel had stolen his breath away for the second time that night. 

“Like what you see?” The angel teased, mirth shining in his eyes. Dean nodded and swallowed hard as he made his way slowly to the bed. Cas rose up to meet him, sitting by the edge of the bed as Dean stood directly in front of him. The angel reached up to caress Dean’s naked skin and intense shivers of pleasure shot straight through his spine. Slowly, Cas took the towel that was barely hanging on Dean’s hips and pulled it loose, letting it fall to the floor. He then raked his nails down the sides of the hunter’s legs, the sensation causing goosebumps in its wake. 

Cas followed his gaze back up the hunter’s legs with his hands and stopped at his hips. He held onto Dean’s hips, burying his thumbs into his navel. He was so close to Dean’s dick, that every small exhale made him twitch. 

“Fuck, Cas,” Dean whispered under his breath. Cas smirked and moved slightly forward to place a delicate kiss on the top of the hunter’s cock, “Trust me, that is definitely my intention, Dean.” His voice sounded wrecked with arousal and Dean had to bury a hand in the angel’s hair just to compose himself. That only served to excite him further once the angel moaned at the slight pull. 

Their eyes met briefly and they could each see the effect they had on each other. Dean was flushed a brilliant pink from the tip of his nose, all the way down his chest. His freckles traced a beautiful path down to his crotch that Cas wanted to trace with his tongue. He slowly moved one of his hands and grabbed onto the hunter’s cock, feeling the weight of it in his hands for the first time and giving it a tentative pull. “Is this alright?” the angel asked, watching as his lover threw his head back slightly before nodding his approval. Cas teased along the side of his member, licking his way from base to tip with his tongue before pulling back and smirking at the hunter’s whimper. “I need to hear you say it Dean.” he teased. 

Dean moaned softly before whispering “Please, Cas.” His voice broke on the last syllable, obviously desperate for more. The angel clicked his tongue and shook his head slightly. “You can do better than that,” he stated, and at that moment he discovered how much he loved making Dean squirm like this. The hunter sighed before meeting the angel’s eyes, hunger burning brightly within both of them. 

“I want- I _need _you to fuck me Cas.” 

That was all the permission Cas needed. He sucked the head of the hunter’s cock tightly into his mouth and moaned as he tasted him properly for the first time. Dean grabbed tightly onto the hair near the base of the angel’s neck as a single moan escaped him. The angel’s mouth was wet and warm as he worked him, and Dean knew that this had to be what heaven felt like. Or at the very least, what heaven should feel like. He felt the warmth of his whole body start to pool at his gut, a familiar kind of electricity starting to build. Cas was moaning as he bobbed his head on Dean’s cock in earnest, taking his own cock in hand and stroking it to match his rhythm. 

Dean used the hair was holding onto to get Cas to stop. The angel pulled off his dick with an obscene ‘pop’, his lips shining and slightly red with exertion. The hunter looked down at his lover who was flushed red, panting slightly and looking up at him with that same adorable head tilt he always did. Dean felt his heart clench with the pure love and adoration he had for this gorgeous man sent from heaven. A lame pick-up line flashed through his head briefly, but he quickly dismissed it to focus on much more important matters: Cas’s cock. He pushed the angel back onto the bed, and let him settle in the middle of it. The hunter then straddled Cas’s legs, leaving his head close to the angel’s dick. He was practically salivating as he grabbed it with his left hand before mirroring Cas’s teasing lick from base to tip. He smirked at the angel’s slight indignation as he realized what he was doing. 

He took Cas into his mouth and couldn’t help but moan at the taste. Cas didn’t taste like a human. He tasted like the air right before it rains, like the electricity in a thunderstorm, like a million waves crashing on the nearby sand. Dean couldn’t get enough of it. He bobbed his head up and down, encouraged by the angel’s small moans and whimpers. Cas’s head was thrown back on the pillow, just enjoying the sensations. Just as Dean was starting to gather a good rhythm, Cas’s hips buckled underneath him and pushed his cock a little further down his throat. Dean choked a bit, but even as he pulled back, he felt a shot of electricity run down his spine. _Hmm, new kink. Duly noted. _

Cas realized what he had done and quickly sat up to check on the hunter. He held on softly to Dean’s arm. “Are you okay? I'm sorry” his voice soft, afraid he might scare Dean off. The hunter chuckled, like Cas could ever do anything to make him leave. He smirked at Cas, “I’ll be okay when you’re inside me.” Those simple words seemed to ignite a flame inside the angel and he quickly bent down to take a bottle of lube out from the bag near the bed. A bottle that Dean would later remark as being conveniently placed, earning him an eye-roll from his lover. 

Cas opened the bottle and poured some of the lube on his fingers, rubbing them against each other to warm the sticky liquid. Dean rose up to straddle the angel’s hips and bent down to kiss him again. This time the kiss was deeper, hungrier. As they kissed, Cas reached down to Dean’s ass and started to spread him open. The hunter flinched at the first finger, surprised at the sudden intrusion. Cas started rubbing slow circles on his lover’s back to soothe him. Their kiss went from hungry to soothing, their mouths just close enough to each other to bring comfort. Sharing the same breath. Their skin burned everywhere that they touched, a strong warmth coursing through their veins. They stayed that way until Cas managed to go all the way up to three fingers, Dean starting to moan at the pleasant burn. 

The angel pulled back his fingers and Dean whimpered at the loss. Cas reached for the condoms that had been left behind where the lube used to be and started to open one. Dean stopped him and took it from him, resolute on placing the condom on his angel’s cock himself. _His angel, he loved the sound of that. _Cas closed his eyes at the feel of having Dean’s hands on him again. He felt closer to Dean than he ever had before. The pure intimacy of this moment made all the years of pining worth it. With more lube placed on his lover’s cock, Dean reached down to grab and guide Cas into him. The angel helped steady the hunter’s hips as he slowly felt himself penetrate his lover. _Eleven years_, he thought, _eleven years waiting for this moment_. A single look at the pure hunger in Dean’s face told him that he wasn’t the only one that felt that way. 

Dean sighed in relief when Cas finally sank into him. The hunter felt full, like a final puzzle piece had finally locked into place. They both sat in companionable silence for a moment, letting it all sink in. Their profound bond vibrant among both of their hearts, pure love coursing through every pore, every breath. Nothing could ever top this moment. This was paradise. 

And then Dean moved. The soft love and longing quickly turned into pure lust with that first thrust. All of their poetic thoughts thrown out the window and replaced by a grueling need to just get impossibly closer. A guttural need for Dean to feel every inch of Cas inside him. A need for Cas to do everything in his power to worship Dean. The sound of skin hitting skin flooded the entire room as Dean bounced harder and harder on top of Cas, the angel gripping his hips tightly. He pushed up into every one of Dean’s thrusts, relishing the moans he managed to rip out of his lover’s throat. He catalogued every whimper, moan and scream and committed them to memory, for future reference. 

Every thrust into Dean pushed him dangerously close to the edge. Until one particular thrust had Dean seeing stars. Cas noticed how the hunter’s breathy moan turned into a guttural scream and quickly readjusted his hips to hit that precise spot again. 

“Fuck Cas, yes!” Dean howled, using his arms to hold himself up against the angel’s shoulders. His legs too weakened with pleasure to keep pushing himself up. This didn’t seem to stop Cas from wanting to please him. He placed both of his feet firmly on the bed behind Dean and used them to thrust up into him, ramming that sweet spot again and again. After a few moments, Dean’s vision went white and his mouth opened in a silent moan as he came. His cock spurting all over the angel’s stomach below him. He collapsed on top of the angel, who slowly started to still his hips. 

As the angel was about to pull out, Dean grasped his lover’s shoulder and composed himself enough to whisper: “Castiel, you stop only when you cum. You got that?” Cas’s heart raced and thumped wildly against his chest as he nodded, and he barely managed a grunt before he started fucking into Dean in earnest once more. With every thrust, Cas could hear the hunter’s breath hitch next to his ear, making a shiver run down his spine. It didn’t take long before the angel pushed deeply into Dean as he came, a sighed moan escaping his lips. They sat there for what felt like ages. Content to lie in each other’s warmth, a tangled mess of limbs on the sheets. 

After an eternity, Dean sighed and a small smile decorated his features. Cas angled his head to look at him and felt his heart stop. The hunter was flushed, his hair messed up every which way and his eyes were barely open. He was the most gorgeous man Cas had ever seen. 

“I love you” Dean murmured, a single tear running down his face. “I love you so much”

Cas’s smile reached from ear to ear. “I love you, Dean. Now and always.” Dean hummed contently, as he settled against his lover’s chest. They had to take a proper shower before going to talk to their family as they had promised. But for now? For now, Dean was in Cas’s arms, and he was finally, truly happy. No strings attached. 


	11. Epilogue

Dean grabbed Cas’ hand and made their way to Sam and Jack’s door. They knocked and waited for an answer.. Cas had once had the ability to fly, yet he had never felt as free as he did in this moment. Jack answered the door and looked down at his father's clasped hands. A bright grin lit up his entire face and he jumped to hug both of them. 

“SAAAAM! They’re holding HANDS!” the boy screamed with pure glee in his voice. They could hear Sam chuckling the background.

“Alright kid, you gonna let us in or what?” Dean chuckled as his cheeks tinged a lovely light pink. If Cas held his lover’s hand a little tighter at that, no one could really fault him for it. They made their way into the room, and sat on the bed opposite to Sam. Jack turned off the TV and came up to join them, taking a place next to Sam.

“Did you have problems with the shower?” Jack asked, his brow furrowed. Sam gave a side-glance in Dean’s direction, trying to keep his composure. He had wanted to pretend he didn’t notice the strangely familiar bed head his brother was sporting when they walked in. Yet, the hand-holding had also given them away. 

Dean blushed profusely under the scrutiny of his brother and son. He cleared his throat, “Yeah there was something wrong with the hot water, but uh-” he chances a glance in the angel’s direction, but couldn’t meet his eyes. “Uh, Cas fixed it though.” Jack nodded, seemingly satisfied with the hunter’s answer, and shared an unreadable look with Sam. A small grin appeared on the nephilims’s features. 

“Cas can be really handy sometimes, right Dean?” Sam teased, his joyful eyes shining mischievously. Cas nodded and cleared his throat as he rubbed the back of his neck to hide the blush spreading across it. 

“Alright-” Sam began to spare his brother and brother-in-law, “There are definitely some things we need to talk about.” He turned to face the angel and pointed at his left arm. “Cas, do you know what the weird symbols on your skin mean?” 

Cas pulled up his sleeve to reveal the Enochian markings. He smiled fondly, “Yes, they are Enochian for ‘Us’” Dean mirrored the angel’s movements and looked at his own markings. As he traced the outline with his fingers, he shivered as a small burst of electricity tickled at his skin. They were connected by the markings somehow and judging by the look on Cas’s face, there was something else the angel was not saying. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought…” Sam interrupted and pulled out his tablet from his nightstand drawer. “I looked a little into the symbols online and I found this ritual.” He gave the tablet to the angel, and Dean peered over his shoulder to read the article. 

“Yes, a bonding ritual.” Cas agreed, before continuing “I presume that the monster was trying to finish her spell on the children before you killed her, but it backfired somehow.” 

Dean’s brow scrunched, “What do you mean backfired?” 

Cas shrugged, “I’m not entirely sure, something seemed to break or bypass her connection.” 

At the angel’s words, Dean was instantly reminded of that moment nearly seven years ago when he had asked a very similar question to a previously brainwashed Cas. _Well, what broke the connection? _This time, though, he knew the answer. 

Before Dean could pose his theory, Jack interjected: “Dean’s love for Cas, and Cas’s blood on the blade broke it.” The hunters all turned to look at their son then, surprised by his intuition. “She tried to cast the bonding spell to finish building her army, but Dean and Cas’s devotion to each other got in the way and turned it into a romantic bond instead.” 

Sam snorted. “More like their ‘profound bond’ broke her spell.” That comment earned him a smack from the pillow closest to Dean. His mock violence trying to hide the warm blush he felt spread on his cheeks at the mention of his bond with Cas. 

“Alright smart guy, enough.” Dean grumbled at Sam. “Did your research find anything about this having harmful side effects?” 

Sam shook his head, still trying to contain his laughter. His eyes were shining brightly, he was happy for his brother. The hunters stayed in Sam and Jack’s room, talking about other details of the case before they all parted ways to start packing. Sadly, their vacation would end tomorrow. That night, they all slept soundly. At peace with the work they had achieved, and the lives they had saved.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, on the way to the airport, Dean kept his promise. As he drove up to the familiar little coffee shop, he drummed his fingers against the wheel and whistled softly along to the song on the radio before turning it off. 

“We’re here!” he exclaimed, before shutting the engine off and making his way out of the car. This time he kept an eye out for any running children, but none came. He shoved his keys into his pocket and walked towards the door. He held it open as Cas came up behind him, and made a show of letting him in first, a grin on his face. Cas rolled his eyes, but couldn’t stop the stupid smile from spreading on his face. Dean committed it to memory. Sam coughed something akin to ‘dumbasses’ under his breath, which made Jack giggle and earned him a fond “Bitch” from his brother. “Jerk” Sam answered, as was customary. 

They all settled at a table near one of the windows, right underneath some lovely pictures of Mirna and her family. The moment Cas laid eyes on the picture, she walked through the kitchen doors and up to the counter to start cleaning it. A waitress came from the kitchen as well, holding some mugs and a pot of coffee. She was wearing a worn, pink dress that said _Mirna’s Coffee_ on the front of it. Cas kept his gaze on the elderly woman behind the counter, her hair was plastered to her forehead and she wore her black-rimmed glasses perched precariously at the bridge of her nose. Her features looked kind. She smiled and waved when she saw Dean sitting at the table, and Cas looked at him puzzled as to how he knew the woman. One further glance at the glass case full of mouth-watering pastries jogged the angel’s memory. The waitress bent to pour his coffee first, and she left with all of their orders and headed towards the kitchen. They talked and joked as they usually did, even as Dean and Cas kept stealing glances in each other’s direction. The four men were finally at ease. Mirna kept an eye on them from behind the counter, a knowing smile decorating her features. 

A little while later, Mirna came out from behind the counter with a tray full of their orders and started walking towards them. She set the huge tray of food on the empty table next to them as she started to distribute their orders

“Ah, so you came back, _guapo_. With the family I see.” Mirna smiled brightly at all of them as she set Dean’s plate in front of him. She had an air of caring and strength about her, and she reminded Sam of Missouri. One glance at Dean told him he felt the same. 

Dean smiled at her and thanked her for the food before replying. “Yeah, well I made a promise to come back before we left. I couldn’t break a sacred promise with such a beautiful woman” he added, the smooth flirtation coming easily to the hunter. She tapped him lightly on his shoulder, with a blush.

“Don’t you start flirting with me now_ atrevido_, don’t want to make your husband there mad at me.” She pointed at Cas when she said that, setting down his plate in front of him. Cas perked up at the comment and quickly studied Dean’s reaction. The hunter took a moment to look at everyone that surrounded him, his gaze stopping at Cas. His mother’s ring on his left hand seemed to burn as he replied. 

“She’s right, can’t let this one get away.” Dean winked before he leaned in to give Cas a chaste kiss and turned to start ravaging his food. 

Mirna nodded her knowing approval, happy to see Dean enjoying himself. She finished giving everyone’s breakfast order and quickly left towards the kitchen, but not before winking in Sam’s direction. A gesture that was not lost on any of the other men, and they teased him endlessly for. 

Everyone but Cas seemed to have moved on from the incredible admission Dean had just made. Or well, more accurately the assumption he had failed to correct. He mulled the words Castiel Winchester in his head over, and over. _It does have a nice ring to it. _He smiled fondly and reached for the hunter’s hand underneath the table and gave it a gentle squeeze. Dean glanced at the angel again and took the opportunity to place his arm around Cas’s shoulders. He relished the warm, fuzzy feeling it gave him in his heart. 

For the first time, in what seemed like an eternity, the Winchesters were a family again. Two salty hunters, one half-angel kid and a dude who recently came back from the dead. _Team Free Will 2.0_. All Dean could do now was wonder where they would go next. 

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for finishing this fic with me! This story meant the world to me, and got me through some dark times. 
> 
> If you enjoyed the story, feel free to reach out in the comments or my Twitter/Tumblr: Moadlc 
> 
> Thank you to the DCBB mods for arranging such a wonderful event for 10 years! It is truly a great feat. 
> 
> Have fun everybody and until next time :)


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